10 Years Later
by Lentex
Summary: Lincoln has not spoken to anyone in his family for two years. He returns home in hope of making amends and reconnecting with his parents and sisters, but when he arrives, he finds that the family has gone through multiple difficult events in his absence. Can he even hope to help make things better?
1. Burger

The man with white hair rode down the highway, his car windows down and air whipping past him. He adjusted his sunglasses and looked down at the clock. It was nearing four in the morning. The highway was empty, so he could drive fast. He was nearing his destination.

He passed a sign on his left that read **ROYAL WOODS, 2 MI**. He grew nervous, a knot beginning to form in his stomach.

Lincoln continued riding for awhile, but, soon, his stomach rumbled. Hm. He had left about six or seven hours ago, and had driven nonstop. Naturally, he was a bit hungry. After briefly debating it in his head, Lincoln decided to stop for some quick fast food before going to his destination. He didn't want to show up on an empty stomach. Once he arrived, he figured he'd be doing a _lot_ of talking and explaining… there wouldn't be time for food for a while.

He took the next exit, entering Royal Woods for the first time in two years, nearly three. Lincoln had been gone for a long time, but the town still was so familiar to him. Even despite the changes (as he drove, slowly, through the streets, he noticed right off the bat that the old bank had been torn down and the Burpin' Burger had been completely rebuilt), nostalgia filled him to the brim. This is where he grew up, this is where he lived for the majority of his life.

And, this is the place he had abandoned.

He shuttered. Yes, it was a pretty selfish thing to do, leaving his parents and sisters behind in the middle of the night without telling them where he was going or even leaving a note. If given the choice to go back in time and make a different choice… Lincoln would most likely stay. That was the past, though, and there was no correcting the past. That's why Lincoln was back, to apologize and get back into touch with his family. He owed it to them.

He entered the Burpin' Burger driveway, empty, and drove up to the ordering area.

"Welcome to Burpin' Burger," the voice said dryly. "How may I help you today?"

Lincoln jumped in his seat, nearly having a heart attack. That voice! Could it be…?

Without ordering, Lincoln slammed his foot on the motorcycle pedal. The vehicle jerked forward, and he drove to the first window.

The first rays up sunlight came over the distant Michigan mountainscape, revealing Lynn Loud's face behind the ordering window.

"Sir, are yo—"

Lynn turned to look out of the window, seeing her brother for the first time in two years.

Her eyes went wide, and there was a moment of dead silence.

"Lynn…?" he asked softly.

In less than a second, Lynn threw off her headset and stormed away from the window. Lincoln's heart sank. Was she going to _ignore_ him? Run away?

Before he knew it, however, his sister came quickly out of the drive-thru side restaurant door, speed walking over to him.

"Some _nerve!_ " she yelled, approaching. "You don't visit or call for two years, and you show up out of nowhere? Lincoln Loud, what is _wrong_ with you?"

"Lynn, I'm sorry, I—"

Sharp pain exploded in his stomach. Lincoln clutched it in pain, stumbling backward. His sister had punched him.

Tears of pain in his eyes, he looked up. "Lynn, I—"

Then, warmth surrounded him. Crying, no, sobbing, Lynn wrapped her arms around him in a hug, and _tight_.

"Y-You're back," she wept. "You're… back…"

* * *

Luna Loud cheered _loudly_. The concert had been going on for an entire four hours, now, and it was nearing five.

Still, that's what she _loved_ about McSwagger. He gave it his all. When you are rock n' roll famous, you put _everything_ you have into every concert you perform at. She should know. Luna was destined to make it big one day. It was just a matter of time.

Presently, on the stage, the drummer, shirtless and glistening with sweat, moved his entire body up and down at a rapid pace, drumming with _passion_. This was raw, this was real, and Luna _loved_ it.

McSwagger sung his last lyric, slammed down on his guitar and played his last chord, and, soon enough, stopped moving with the beat of the song.

The concert was over. It went two hours overtime, and not once did the energy of the band nor crowd falter. The show, though, like all good things, it had to come to an end. Even this concert, as hard as it may have been to believe, could not last for eternity.

As McSwagger began to give his closing remarks on the stage, Luna quickly grabbed her things and made her way to the exit. She needed to leave before the others. Unlike everyone else in the auditorium, she had entered without paying. It was risky, but it was the only way she could see one of these things. McSwagger was in Royal Woods for the first time in forever, and would likely never come back. She couldn't miss this for the world.

 _Hey, see that over there?_ she had asked the ticket vendor, pointing behind him. _I did that._

He had turned to look, and saw nothing. When she turned back to Luna, she was gone.

Is was a risky move, but well worth it. If Luna was caught, she would be facing criminal charges.

She really couldn't afford to have anything else on her record.

Not now.

She brushed past row and row of cheering fans, and, soon enough, made it to the exit of the stadium and bolted away. She made it outside of the concert, but just as she thought she was safe, a female voice that she could tell was directed at her made her blood run cold.

" _Hey!_ "

Fear galvanized her, and Luna ran as fast as she could away.

" _Luna!_ " the woman called again. " _Luna! Wait!_ "

Oh. That voice… it was just Luan.

Luna turned around, and sure enough, Luan was struggling to catch up to her.

"You _scared_ me," Luna said, smiling.

" _Good_ ," the comedienne snapped now in front of her, catching her breath. "It's about _time_ you came out. I've been waiting for you _two. Hours._ "

"Oh, shit," Luna said softly, looking away and scratching the back of her neck. "Look, I'm sorry, but the concert ran late and I forgot you were picking me up…"

"It's _bad_ enough you talked me into coming out here at two in the morning to get you," Luan said, hands on her hips, leaning forward. "But making me wait out here for as long as I did? _Really,_ Luna?"

"God, I'm _sorry,_ " Luna cried, throwing her hands up. "Maybe I was just trying to forget about all the shit going on at home. Maybe I just wanted to _enjoy_ myself for one night."

Luan shook her head. "Get in the car."

She did, and so too did Luan. The comedian started the engine, and the vehicle lurched forward as she stepped down on the pedal.

"You know," said Luna, looking away from Luan. Her gaze was anchored to the passenger side window. The concert had been on a hill, and Royal Woods was orange and bright blow them as they drove. "You have some _nerve,_ getting on my case for being a couple hours late out of the concert. You _abandoned_ the family for _years._ "

Luan's grip on the steering wheel tightened tremendously. She gritted her teeth.

"I told you a hundred times," she said softly. "I'm sorry about that."

Luna crossed her arms and let out an annoyed _hmph._ "While you were in Hollywood, the rest of us were working our butts off to have enough money to just get by. Funeral bills… food for all of us… every time something broke, we needed to go into our savings to fix it."

Luan was silent. After a while, however, she spoke. "We've been over this a hundred times… if I knew Mom and Dad were dead, I'd have come back!"

"Yeah, well, that means nothing. Just because you don't answer your phone doesn't mean you're innocent."

"I was busy! I had to shoot on set every day!"

"You were starring on a shitty _sitcom_ while we were working overtime for minimum wage just to get by!"

The silence returned, this time heavier than before.

At last, Luan spoke in barely a whisper. "I… I don't know how many times I have to say it. I'm _sorry._ "

Luna continued looking out of the passenger window.

* * *

The morning sun shined brightly through Lynn's passenger side window, giving Lincoln a clear view of his sister. She had grown up quite a bit since he had last seen her. Her muscles were more defined, but her eyes seemed to be softer than he remembered. There were small but visible bags of stress under her eyes.

Lynn had asked to leave work early for a family emergency. Every day, she jogged to work, so she had no car in the Burpin' Burger parking lot that needed to be taken home. Presently, the two were silent. The engine and passing Royal Woods traffic were the only sounds audible.

Lynn reached down in her pocket and produced a cigarette. She took out a lighter and cupped her hand around it, trying to spark a flame.

Lincoln frowned. He snatched the cigarette from out of Lynn's hand and threw it out the driver side window.

"Hey!" she cried, "What the hell, man?"

"Those are bad for you, you know."

Lynn gritted her teeth. "You'd probably be smoking, too, if you had to deal with the shit on at home."

Lincoln raised an eyebrow. "What… what do you mean?"

"Jesus, you don't know _anything_ , do you?"

"No, I don't. I've been gone two years, remember?"

Lynn laughed, a high pitched sound that made Lincoln uneasy.

"Oh, this is _rich,_ " she said, slapping her knee. "I thought you'd at least have secretly been keeping in touch with one or two of us, but, _no._ You've _completely_ isolated yourself, haven't you?"

Lincoln pulled up to a traffic light, and the car jolted to a stop.

"I'm sorry," he said genuinely. "It was selfish and I was wrong to leave, alright?" He looked sideways out of the window. "Look… forgive me or don't, that's your choice, okay? But I'm coming back home to apologize and get back in touch with the family. That's why I'm in Royal Woods."

Lynn huffed, a strand of her hair briefly flying up in the wind. "Yeah. _Well._ It won't be that easy. Not everyone is just ready to let you get down on your knees and apologize."

"I don't expect it to happen right away. I'll move back in, if you guys will have me. I'll do whatever you need. I don't have much money, but I'll pitch in when I can. I'll help the younger ones… Lily's eleven now, right? I'll be there for her, for all of you."

"About damn time." Lynn crossed her arms.

The light turned green, and the car went forward.

As Lincoln drove, slower, now, past his house, he noticed a few things were different than he remembered. Before, there was always a few toys in the front yard—a frisbee in the tree, a bike on the grass, a baseball on the roof—now, though, there were no toys to be seen. Lincoln figured that many of his sisters had outgrown toys like that, and he had missed much of their lives, much of them growing up. His blood ran cold upon realizing this, and he gripped the steering wheel just a little harder.

Just because the yard was devoid of the clutter of toys, however, didn't mean it was necessarily kept neat. The grass was slightly overgrown, and a mow was long overdue. The mailbox, too, had seen better days—the handle had fallen off, and to open it, the mailman had to pry open the hatch with a pen or a twig.

It wasn't quite there yet, but the house looked almost as if it had been _abandoned_. What the hell was going on around here?

Lincoln pulled into the driveway, and he and Lynn exited his car.

"So, this is it," he said quietly. "1216 Franklin Avenue."

Lynn punched him on the shoulder. "Yeah, things have been falling apart pretty quickly around here," she said, and sighed. There was a brief pause. "I hope you're actually serious about helping out. Obviously, this family has seen better days… we could use it."

Lincoln walked almost in slow motion to the front porch, soaking everything in.

"Well?" Lynn asked from behind, impatient.

Lincoln sighed, and put his hand on the doorknob. It was time.

He rung the doorbell.

* * *

Mornings in the Loud House were always full of energy, clamor, and commotion. Whether it be Luna insisting on playing her music loudly, arguments erupting over who's turn it was to use the bathroom, or just the sound of thirteen pairs of feet clamoring around to get ready, things got pretty loud pretty fast.

At least… that's how it was when Lana was growing up. These days, mornings were actually relatively peaceful. Everyone woke up at their own times. The first to rise was usually Lucy, and she did so early. The last was usually Luna… and that wasn't until two or three in the afternoon. She stayed up late, often getting home while everyone was asleep. Though Lori yelled at her loudly for it almost every day, the resident rockstar more often than not came home drunk.

Lana herself had managed to get a job at the Royal Woods Orchard. At first, the prospect of actually working a job was a scary one, but once she learned the ropes, she came to actually really enjoy her job. She got to do lots of stuff that she loved. Taking care of the farm animals, getting dirty working in the fields, and getting _paid_ for all of it.

Of course, her minimum wage didn't go to herself. Lana gave whatever she could to the family. Right now, they were on some pretty hard times. Most of the Louds were unemployed. The ones who _did_ have a job were only qualified for little pay. Lincoln had run off two years ago. Lisa was gone.

Things wouldn't be so bad if everyone was pulling their weight, but they _weren't_.

Lana heart the front door downstairs open. Then, she heard a conversation, and from the voices, she could tell it was between Leni and Luan.

"You're back!"

"Yeah, Luna stayed in late. Again."

"Aww, sorry to hear that. Would you like some coffee? Some milk?"

"Yeah… that'd be nice. Thanks, Leni."

Leni didn't have a job (being Leni, she probably couldn't hold down one even if she tried…), but at least she spent most of her time looking after the younger sisters. Out of everyone, the Loud who had the most success was Luan. She used to have a lot of money from starring on _Luan out Loud_ , a sitcom that she pitched and actually made it big with down in California, but she lost all of it. _That_ was a story for a different time.

Lana's bedroom door was open, and Lucy poked her head in. She saw Lana in her farm uniform.

"How was work?"

Lana shrugged. "Okay, I guess. It's hard, but I don't mind. We need the money, anyway."

Lucy nodded. "Hey," she said. "I submitted my best story yet. Maybe this one will make some money."

Lucy had been asked to get a normal job by the rest of the family, but she insisted on spending her time writing short stories and poetry, trying to get them published, saying that one day she would _make it big._ She had no success so far. Lana loved her sister and wanted her to succeed, didn't think she would anytime soon. It would be best for her to get a normal job, but she refused.

Lana nodded. "Well, good luck with that."

Once again, she was alone. Lana sighed. Things haven't been looking too bright around the Loud house as of late. Just last night, Lori had gotten in a _loud_ argument with Luna about a concert. Luna wanted to go, but couldn't afford it, so she had asked Lori for ticket money. Well, _that_ was a bad idea! The oldest Loud went ballistic, screaming at Luna for _pissing away_ the family's savings and not bothering to get a job. Luna went on a rant about how much talent she had, and how she would make it big if not for her sisters dragging her down all the time.

It wasn't pretty.

Lana looked across her bedroom at her twin's empty bed. Lola was gone now, off with her _boyfriend_. Lana cringed. Lola was 16, but refused to get a job. It was summer, but she said that she needed to _focus on her studies._ She took school a bit too seriously. She never used to. Lana wondered if it was just to avoid getting a job.

The time that Lola wasn't in her room, she was out with Patrick. Lana didn't like him. He was attractive, sure, but a total asshole otherwise. Did Lola actually love him? Or was she just using him as another excuse to bail out of pulling her weight in the family? Lola spent nearly every night staying up late texting him, sometimes giggling and keeping Lana awake. It was so _annoying._

She sat up in her bed and stretched. Lana had been awake for about an hour now, but didn't want to get up. She tried to fall back asleep, just to get a little more rest before going off to the orchard. It was the weekend, but she took as many hours as she could on her job, so she had work soon.

She scratched her butt and went downstairs, still in her nightgown. In the kitchen, she poured herself some coffee and grabbed a piece of toast (it was the most common breakfast as of late, only because of how cheap it was). Just as she was about to sit the doorbell rang.

"I got it," she said, standing.

She went to the front door and opened it, and on the other side stood her brother. For the first time in two years, he was right in front of her.

"O-Oh my God," Lana stammered, frozen in place, eyes wide. "Lincoln… you're back?"

* * *

 **This is a story idea I've been throwing around in my head for a while now. Sure, I'm not the first person to imagine a world years after canon time (many writers and roleplay groups have long ago), but this is my personal take on the "X years later" concept. I want to tell a captivating story about the family trying to get back on their feet after a series of difficult events, and I think I have a good story planned out so I'm going to write it.**


	2. Seal

**For those confused, this story takes place ten years after the time period in the show. Lincoln, however, left two years ago when he was 19. He's 21, now.**

* * *

Luna and Luan were one close.

Were they _still_ close?

Neither knew.

They shared rooms for most of their lives. They got along well. Many times, when Luna was coming home late, Luan had tied her sheets together in a rope to let her sister in without notice. When one of Luan's pranks went too far, like when she had accidentally broken an expensive vase in her parent's room when trying to set up a prank, Luna covered for her.

 _Sorry, popstar, I was playing so loud that it must have fell off the stand. My bad._

They asked one another for advice. When either one of them were in a pickle, they went first to one another before going to anyone else, even their parents or Lori.

As things fell apart for the Louds over the past couple of years, however, everyone in the family began to drift farther and farther apart. Arguments became much more frequent and serious. Disagreements tore friendships apart. They were family, and everyone loved one another, but that flame of love was growing weaker and weaker with each passing month.

Like everyone, Luna and Luan, too, were beginning to lose the special friendship they once had. Luan often pointed the finger at Luna for not making an effort to help the family, for wasting all of her money on alcohol. Luna often pointed the finger back at Luan, saying that she wasn't helping much either. She didn't have a job, after all.

True, Luan didn't have a job. But she had _ambitions!_ _Big_ ambitions, too.

She was going to run for the Royal Woods city council.

Yes, she was only 24, and, yes, she had only a little experience in the world of politics. Still, she knew she had what it took! When Luan was a teenager, she often did volunteer work at the town hall. She learned about city planning, budget balancing, and, most importantly, winning campaigns. Cleanly, or, if the race was tight, dirtily. The old mayor, now dead, had seen something special in Luan. He took her under her wing.

 _You and me, Luan Loud,_ Mayor Glen had said, _One day, you're going to be running this town. You have potential. I can see it. I can see that fire in your eyes. I know you want to_ help _people. The political world is a nasty one, but stick by me, and you'll learn what you need to succeed in it._

Presently, Luan gripped the steering wheel tighter and did her best to hold back hot tears. Now, the mayor was dead, killed in the same accident that claimed the lives of both her parents.

She would run, and she would win. _That's_ why, despite the fact that she would do anything in the world to help out her siblings, _anything,_ she wouldn't get a job. Sure, the money was desperately needed, but if she one, _when_ she won, Luan would make _so much more!_ Not only that, but she would be a leader in Royal Woods! The town she had spent her whole childhood in… she would be a city council member of. Not only would she make enough money to save her own struggling family, she would be able to use her position to help countless other families in the same situation as hers!

When she announced her ambitions to her family, instead of being met with support and praise like she expected, she was shot down immediately by almost _everyone._ They didn't think she could do it. They didn't think that she would win. They thought she would only be wasting time that could be spent working a job she could actually get, a job that would bring immediate and much needed money to the family.

The only person that actually supported her was Lucy. Sweet, little Lucy.

That night, she considered giving up on the dream altogether. Her own family didn't support her for city council, why would the town of Royal Woods? She cried, and before she knew it, Lucy was in front of her. Her little sister comforted her. She told her she believed in Luan. Told her _you can do it. I know you can._

That settled it. She would run for a seat on the city council of Royal Woods.

She began her campaign that night, two weeks ago.

Presently, Luan slowed down her car as she came into the driveway. She parked, and killed the engine. Luna got out of the passenger side door, slamming it shut as she walked away. Luan got out of her side, and began to walk to the garage, her campaign center.

"Hey, uh, Luan. Wait."

Luan turned. Luna was looking at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with her. She scratched the back of her neck.

"Look," she said. "I know I can be a handful at times… and I'm sorry. You were right. I should have paid more attention to the time."

Luan was caught off guard. All she could do was slowly nod. A silence hung in the air.

Eventually, the candidate spoke up. "Uh… well. Thanks, I guess. I'm sorry for yelling at you."

Luna smiled and nodded, then began to walk away, back into the house.

"Oh, Luna, one more thing."

The rockstar turned. "Yeah?"

"Thanks," Luan said. "Thanks for everything."

Luna chuckled nervously. "Uh, thanks for _what?_ "

"For covering up for me when we were kids. For calling me so much when I was down in Hollywood. For letting me use your garage."

The last thing Luan mentioned took Luna by surprise Never before had her sister thanked her for giving up the garage to her. Before they died, Luna's parents had been very disappointed with her for finding out about her getting drunk, almost so much so that they kicked her out of the house.

 _We're sick and tired of you coming home at three in the morning, young lady,_ her father had said, arms crossed. He appeared much taller than he actually was, much more menacing.

 _If you do this_ one _more time, we're going to have no choice but to kick you out,_ her mother said. _Do you understand, Luna?_

Luna didn't understand. She came home many more times after that early in the morning a mess, her hair looking like a rat's nest and her clothes smelling like vomit. Still, her parents never made good on their promise to kick her out. They still loved her, and they were really good parents (Luna realized this only now, not back then. Back then, she hated them with all of her guts, and for this she would forever kick herself for being a moron to think in such a way) so they couldn't bring themselves to kick their daughter out on to the streets. Not when she came home in the night for the first time at 15 from performing at a rock concern, trying to carry her drums upstairs. Not when she came home in the night drunk for the first time at 17, tripping over her own feet trying to get upstairs. Not when, at 19, she came _crawling_ home drunk, vomiting all over the living room carpet so late that it was morning and her younger siblings were getting ready for school. They saw the whole thing.

No, when Luna pulled _that_ stunt, rather than kicking her out, as they were legally allowed to do, Lynn Sr. and Rita instead allowed her to move into the garage. That way, never again would she make such a scene as she did in front of the little ones.

She was 25, now, and had been living in the garage for the majority of her adult life. When Luan needed a campaign office, though, and even though Luna didn't even think she had a shot at winning, she gave it up to her sister.

Luna moved back into the house. Though Lincoln and Lisa had abandoned the family, though Luan had cut off all contact with her family while she was filming her sitcom in Hollywood and had missed the news of her parent's death, though Lynn Jr. constantly yelled and blamed everyone else for her shortcomings (if it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't be working at a fast food joint, I'd be in the _o_ _lympics_ , dammit!), Luna remained most unpopular Loud sibling of them all.

And she moved back into the house. Into the Lion's den.

For Luan.

* * *

The sun had risen about an hour and a half ago, Lily Loud thought. And, already, it was _hot_.

She was walking down the sidewalk with her oldest sister, Lori. Most mornings, now, she took a walk for half an hour just after the sun rose and she ate breakfast.

What else was she to do? She was only eleven, and didn't have a job to take up her time. Ever since Lincoln abandoned her, she stopped playing video games, too, since it was him to introduced her to them. She didn't have any friends to hang out with, either, since she stopped socializing altogether after the death of her parents.

Despite all of this, Lily was _happy_. She didn't know why. Sometimes, she felt guilt for it. Quickly, though, she pushed that guilt away. It was _never_ a crime to be happy. Getting down on herself for it was wrong, plain and simple. Her parents would want her to be happy, so why was it wrong to be sad even so recently after their passing away?

She had always been happy. She wore bright dresses, she smiled a lot, and she always talked as if she was chirping. It was simply her personality. Being happy was what Lily could understand, it was how she lived her life, what she constructed her movement around, how she dealt with the tangible.

Sure, she had her days. She shed some tears when Lisa left all those years ago. She cried a little when her parents died.

She even cried when Lincoln left.

She had went downstairs in the middle of the night to grab a glass of water, and in the doorway stood her older brother with an orange backpack strapped on to him.

"Wh-Where are you going, Lincoln? It's late."

Lincoln turned, and his eyes grew wide, wider than Lily had ever seen them. He was silent for a moment, then he spoke up. Though his voice was only above a whisper, it was the strongest Lily had ever heard it.

"I'm going away for a long time, Lily," he said, approaching slowly before kneeling down, resting one arm on her shoulder. "You… you might never see me again. Okay?"

" _What! Why?_ " she whisper-yelled.

Lincoln wrapped his arms around her and drew her into a warm hug, and then he told her. Tears began to form in her eyes.

For a while, they stayed like that. A warm hug, the warmest Lily had ever been, the safest she had ever felt, right there in the moonlight pouring through the living room window in her brother's arms and warm tears in her eyes but they were sort of good tears even though she was supposed to be sad because her brother was going away for a long time.

She was only nine years old at the time, and he was nineteen, a decade older, but the two understood each other in that moment more than either had understood anyone in their lives up until that point and to this day.

Then, he let go of her, reaching in his backpack.

"I don't know why I didn't think of this before," he said, pulling out his stuffed bunny rabbit. "But I want you to have this. Take good care of Bun-Bun, okay, Lily?"

And she did.

"I'm a _corporate raider!_ " Lori yelled into the phone next to Lily, breaking her out of her daydream. "I orchestrate hostile takeovers. What do you think of that? Huh, _bitch?_ "

Lily sighed. For some reason, Lori insisted on tagging along with her on today's morning walk. Lily gladly accepted. The more the merrier, after all. Since Lori had been yelling into her phone about work stuff the whole time, though, Lily was beginning to have second thoughts about the arrangement.

Lori was so far the most successful out of all the Louds. She worked at an investment bank in an office in Detroit, and she took the train to the city every morning. She was making a very healthy wage, and it would be plenty for two or even three people to live comfortably on. She gave all she earned to her sisters, though, and that, combined with everyone else's money, only gave the entire family enough to scrape by.

Despite the fact that she yelled a lot, and would appear mean to anyone that didn't know her very well, Lori had sacrificed the most for the family. She was going to marry Bobby. The two were already living in Detroit, and they were planning on starting a family. Then, things began to get bad for the Louds. After the abandonments, after the deaths… Lori came back to help.

Without her coming, Lily thought, things would get _really_ ugly.

As if things right now weren't bad enough.

Bobby disagreed. He told Lori to let her sisters work their problems out on their own. They got into a fight, and Lori actually left Bobby… she _broke up_ with him! They'd been together since she was seventeen!

Lily didn't like it when her older sisters yelled, but Lori was often stressed with all the difficulties of her job. Co-workers messing up, greedy bosses that she had to stand up against… not to mention, the situation with Bobby and the Loud family's horrific financial state.. Lily imagined it could get hairy at times.

Lori continued to yell into her phone, louder, now, and Lily stopped herself from covering her ears. It would be rude, and it was her personal policy never to be rude when she could help it, even if she was _really_ annoyed or angry.

They came to the house. Luan's car was pulling into the driveway just as Lily began to walk down the front path, and soon both Luan and Luna got out of it.

"I'm going to work now, kiddo," Lori said.

Lily turned around and nodded. "Have a good day, sis."

Lori ruffled her hair, and began to make her way to the driveway to get in her car and drive down to the train station. Lily turned back around and went up the front porch steps, two at a time, just as Luna was coming inside of the house, too.

"Where were you?" Lily asked curiously as Luna rang the doorbell.

"None of your business," she said dryly.

Lily nodded slowly. "Oh. Okay."

Lana opened the door. She was panting, as if she had ran to let them in.

"Lincoln'shome," she said quickly.

"What?" Lily asked, unsure what Lana said. Was she speaking English?

"Lincoln's. Home," she said, forcing herself to speak slowly.

Lily nodded. "Okay. Thanks for telling me."

She entered the house, making her way to the stairs. As she passed the opening to the dining room, could see into the kitchen. Lincoln was sitting at the table in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee and talking to lots of his and Lily's sisters.

She began to make her way upstairs. She wasn't sure what she would do when she got up there. _I'll find out,_ she guessed. Maybe she could help someone. Lola was always asking for an assistant to put on makeup. Maybe Lucy needed help with thinking of a rhyme for her new short story. She was so talented. Lily figured she'd make it big in no time. She hoped, at least. She wasn't very successful thus far…

Wait. _Lincoln?_

Turning around so fast she almost slipped, Lily jumped down the stairs, three, no four at a time. When she came to the dining room entrance, she was going so fast that the girl needed to grab on to the wall just for support. She flung herself in the direction of the kitchen entrance, and once she arrived, she stopped herself by grabbing onto the kitchen table. It wobbled, almost falling over, and Lynn quickly slammed her hands down on it, stabilizing the table and preventing Lincoln's hot coffee from spilling on to him. That would be bad.

"Lana," Lynn said. "Could you get Luna and Luan? I think they're outside. Oh, and catch Lori too, before she goes off to work." She looked back at Lincoln, glaring angrily. Or was it in concern? "They'll want to hear this."

" _Lincoln!_ " cried Lily. "Y-You're _back!_ " Her brother opened his mouth to speak, but closed it as she scurried around the table, wrapping him in a tight, warm embrace.

Almost like the one two years ago.

"How long are you staying?" she asked, her voice muffled by Lincoln's shirt.

"As long as it takes," he said. "As long as it takes."

* * *

Luna came in from the front door, followed by Luan, then Lori. Next, from upstairs, who had been sleeping in, walked in Leni. All looked at Lincoln is disbelief, like he was some sort of alien, a creature from a different planet.

Other than Lily, however, none of them hugged him.

Surrounding Lincoln were all of his sisters save for Lisa and Lola.

"Where's Lols?" he asked.

"Out with her boyfriend," Lana said, disgusted.

Lincoln chuckled. "You don't like him, I take it."

"No."

There was a brief pause. The silence in the room was thick and uncomfortable for everyone in its presence.

"Well," Lincoln said. "We might as well get started here."

"Where the hell _were_ you?" Lynn spat.

"Afghanistan," he said softly.

"Afghanistan!" cried Luan. " _Why?_ "

"All my life," Lincoln began, "I've been weak. I didn't know how to catch a baseball. I didn't know how to put together a wooden stepping stool. Hell, _Lola_ could beat me up even when she was six." He paused, taking a heavy breath. "I wanted to grow a spine… I wanted to stop being a pushover. So, I joined the army."

The room grew loud, many sisters in disbelief.

"The _army?_ "

"You're not cut out for _that!_ "

"You could have gotten hurt!"

"Y-You could have _died!_ "

"I know," he said. "And… and I'm sorry. Okay? I should have never left you guys, especially without saying anything. It's just that, well… I knew none of you would let me go. So I left in secret. I joined the seals. I saw combat… I… I k-killed some people, too."

The room grew quiet once more, as if a vacuum had sucked the sound right out of the kitchen.

"I'm sorry," Lincoln continued, "I don't expect any of you to forgive me, at least not right away. But I'm back to help. I'm here to make things right again. I quit a few days ago."

Silence returned, and each of the present Loud sisters stared at their brother.

Eventually, Lori shook her head. "Well, shit, I'm not ready to forgive you… but I guess we could use some help around here."

"Yeah," said Lynn, "You old room hasn't been touched. Nobody… well, nobody really wanted to go back in there after you abandoned us. You can stay there for as long as you want."

He smiled. "Thanks, guys… really. It's good to be back." He sat up a bit in his chair, now a bit more comfortable. "Anyway, when are Mom and Dad getting home?"

It was Lily who told him.

"Linky… they're dead."


	3. Incumbent

Lily Loud was pondering.

Her big brother, Lincoln, was home for the first time in two years. Nobody but her knew where he was all that time. That night two years ago, when Lily went downstairs to get a glass of water and saw Lincoln in the doorway ready to leave, she made him stop for a moment. He told her where he was going, and why.

 _I'm going to join the army, Lily,_ he said. _I'm leaving now. I'm going to walk to the recruitment office downtown. When the sun rises in a couple of hours, I'll be waiting outside. I'll be the first one inside. My mind is made up. Please, don't tell anyone._

Lily asked if she would ever see him again.

 _I don't know._

She was angry. Nine-year-old Lily had been _mad_ at her brother. How could he just _leave_ like that? She was losing siblings one by one. Seven years prior, Lori went to college in New England and eventually settled there, working in New York City. Six years prior, Leni left to design college. Four years prior, Luan, too, left for University. Three years prior, and Lynn got a sports scholarship, and went away just like the rest of them.

At only nine years old, Lily was going to lose her _fifth_ sibling— Lincoln (he'd be the sixth, if Luna hadn't not went to college).

Even though Lincoln made Lily promise not to tell anyone, she really wanted to. It was wrong of him to leave the family like that. It was selfish, cruel, and _stupid!_ Why did Lincoln want to join the _army!_ He would be shot at! H-He could die!

Lily, however, kept the secret.

Why did she do it? Even now, she didn't really know. After all, she was very angry and disappointed with her brother. Heck, she stopped playing video games all together because it was Lincoln who introduced her to them, and it was Lincoln's video game equipment she was using.

Lily continued to keep the secret, not knowing why. She didn't tell the truth the next morning when her family discovered that Lincoln was gone, having left a note of the fridge that read, simply: _I'm going. Please, don't look for me. -Lincoln Loud_. She didn't tell the truth when her family began to all break down sobbing, wondering what mistakes they made that caused Lincoln to run away. She didn't tell the truth when, for _weeks_ , she and her family looked around Royal Woods, eventually expanding searching outside of town, too, but never finding Lincoln. She didn't tell the truth when, for the two years after Lincoln's fleeing, life altogether in the Loud house became a lot quieter, more lifeless. By telling everyone what she knew, she could have brought Lincoln home and fixed everything. But she didn't.

Now, though, with her big brother finally back home, a theory had popped into her head on why she kept the secret for as long as she did.

She sympathized with Lincoln.

The more she pondered it, the more sense it made. Lori had her boy advice, Leni had her fashion expertise, Luna was talented beyond belief with musical instruments, Luan ran a successful business and was instrumental in keeping up the morale of the Loud family after the death of their parents, and Lynn had championship trophies for _five_ different sports. Even the younger of the Loud sisters, Lucy with her literature, Lana with her handiness, Lola with her pageants, and Lisa with her science, had unique skills and talents.

What did Lily have? She cried a lot behind closed doors, she whined a lot, and she was the youngest, always getting in the way of her older sisters.

What did Lincoln have? He played video games, he read comics in his underwear, and he dressed up like a geek to go to superhero conventions.

Neither had much to offer.

Lily, like the rest of her sisters, loved all of her siblings dearly, but often, perhaps too often, she couldn't help but to compare herself to them. She felt inferior. She didn't have any special talents, she often got in the way, and she acted childishly.

...is that how Lincoln felt?

Is that why he left to join the military?

Lily and her brother, at first glance, didn't have very much in common. Not only because of their age gap (he was an entire decade older than her, after all) but also because of their lack of common interests. Other than video games, which Lily no longer even played, there was nothing much that both Lily and Lincoln liked to do.

The more she thought of it, however, the more she realized how she and him were alike… only, though, on a deeper level.

 _This_ , Lily now knew, was why she kept the secret. _This_ is why she endured watching her sisters and parents cry and be miserable following Lincoln's disappearance, despite the fact that she could have fixed it all by telling them where he was. _This_ is why she played dumb for those two years, pretending to not know where her brother was even though she did.

"Oh, God," Lily said softly, realizing something else.

Lincoln _knew_ all of this.

Otherwise, that night two years ago, he wouldn't have told her where he was going.

* * *

The election was in less than a month. Luan had been campaigning for only two weeks so far. Her message was simple: lower taxes, more education spending, and total honesty from the city council.

She'd been working her butt off day in and day out, making phone calls from her campaign office, talking to people in the streets about her plans for Royal Woods, and even raising some funds to run some television ads near the end of the race.

She wasn't like the other politicians. She didn't have a campaign team, she didn't have funding from anyone, and she had no experience in public service.

Still, Luan remained confident. Her message spoke to the common folks of Royal Woods, and she was gaining traction. If she won, she would be able to provide a _lot_ for her family. Right now, her siblings weren't big fans of her… other than Lucy and Luna, nobody believed she even had a chance at winning. Even Luna wasn't quite sure about the prospect of her campaign being successful. She never told Luan directly, but she could tell.

 _Luna,_ Luan had asked the day she started. _Do you think I can do this?_

She hesitated. _Of course, sis. If anyone deserves to be on the city council, it's you._

Luan was grateful for the support, but knew it wasn't genuine. The way Luna scratched the back of the neck, the way she couldn't look Luan in the eyes… her sister loved her, and _wanted_ her to win, but wasn't sure Luan had what it took to actually do so.

Presently, the candidate sighed. Her office, the Loud family garage, was hot. Obviously, there wasn't enough money to buy an air conditioner unit for the house, let alone the garage. She looked down at her desk. Her phone's home screen lit up with yet a new email notification— there were over three hundred, now, and the last time she checked was only yesterday.

Luan was successful in Hollywood. She was the star of her very own sitcom. Sure, it wasn't the most popular show (in fact, it had been steadily declining in ratings long before Luan left), but she was an _actress_ on television, something she'd never once imagine becoming. She'd grown a fanbase, and constantly, cameras were shoved in her face. She gave her email out expecting, at most, a couple dozen fan messages per day. At first, when she checked her phone each morning, she only had five or six, but that number quickly grew as more people watched _Luan Out Loud_.

She'd been meaning to make a new account. Luan loved her fans dearly, and would certainly respond to each and every one of them if she had the time, but she was running a serious campaign. She was beginning to get important emails, now, like messages from sitting city council members wishing her luck or asking her what she planned to do if elected. Still, not yet had she been able to delete or even move away from her email account. It was the last connection she had to her previous life.

Her phone lit back up, two new fan emails appearing.

Luan sighed. She needed to win this campaign, and if she was serious about doing so, sacrifices had to be made. She unlocked her phone, went to the email app, and, quickly, before she could change her mind, deleted her account.

It was painful, but necessary.

There was a knock on the garage door. "Come in," Luan said.

Luna popped her head into the door. "Hey, there's a lady that knocked on the front door. Says she wants to see you."

Luan nodded. "Go ahead, send her in."

Nodding, Luna closed the door.

Luan grabbed a pen from her desk and tapped the table nervously. She'd received phone calls and letters since started her campaign, but nobody had ever come to visit her. She was becoming a more serious candidate with a chance of actually winning, so it was natural that she'd get a few visitors during the race, but that didn't make it any less surreal.

The door to the office opened Luan waved in the visitor, a woman in her late forties or early fifties dressed formally.

"Hello!" piped the candidate, motioning to the chair on the other side of her desk. "Sorry for the heat. Have a seat."

"No, _I'm_ sorry," said the woman, genuinely apologetic. "I should've made an appointment." She sat up and held out her hand. "I'm Evelyn Kimball."

"Hi. Luan Loud." Luan took it, squeezing it firmly. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm sorry to barge in on you like this. I know how busy it can get can during a campaign."

Luan smiled and shook her head. "No, it's fine. A visitor is always welcome." She paused. "So, what do you need?"

"Well," Evelyn said. "I don't know if you're familiar with me, but I'm an incumbent member of the city council."

"In...incumbent?" Luan asked, confused.

Evelyn looked at her as if she had three heads. "Incumbents mean currently holding office," she said slowly, explaining.

Luan's face turned red with embarrassment. How could she not know such a basic political term?

"I wanted to let you know," Evelyn continued, "that I wish you the best of luck in your campaign for the city council.

Luan nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

"What do you plan to do if elected?"

"Well, exactly what I have on my campaign website. Lower taxes, more education spending, and total honesty from the city council. No corruption."

"You are aware," Evelyn said, "that our town's emergency services are underfunded? Lowering taxes will make that problem significantly worse."

Luan was silent.

"Education spending is fine," Evelyn continued. "The problem is students getting _to_ the school. With the town's increasing traffic, buses are running later and later. It would actually be very beneficial to schools if we took some money _away_ from their budget and put it into better roads."

Luan nodded slowly, unsure of what to say.

"As for honesty from the city council…" Evelyn chuckled. "Royal Woods hasn't had any local scandals in decades. I think we're doing a pretty good job already."

"Well," Luan said quickly, "I'm still actively looking at the problems. My positions aren't concrete yet, after all. This is my first time running"

"Are you saying you're going to change your mind if elected?"

Luan knew what was going on. Evelyn was trying to catch Luan off guard, to make her less confident in her abilities to perform as a city council member. Sure, there was a lot she still had to learn, but Luan's heart was in it, and her message resonated with the voters.

She didn't need this. Luan wasn't going to let herself be deterred.

"All I'm saying," Luan said, forcing a smile, "is that I'm actively looking at the issues."

Evelyn said nothing.

"Well," said Luan, standing and extending her arm. "Thank you for the visit. I hope I told you what you wanted to know."

Evelyn stood and shook. "It was a pleasure talking to you." She made her way to the garage door. Before exiting, however, Evelyn stayed in place for a moment, looking at the door. She looked over her shoulder. "I sure hope you know what the hell you're doing, because I doubt you do. I don't think you're going to win this race, Luan Loud."

With that, Evelyn left.

* * *

It took awhile to find a job. A 21-year-old with no prior work experience (he refused to put his experience with the military on his applications) did not look quite appealing to employers looking for workers. Lincoln had to apply for at least fifteen jobs (or was it twenty? He couldn't remember) before finally being accepted at Flip's Food N' Fuel.

Lincoln, thinking realistically, had applied to be a cashier, thinking it was the only job he'd be accepted for. Much to his surprise, however, he was signed on as a general manager, a less boring and better paying job. It still wasn't much, sure (he was working at a gas station, after all), but he didn't expect to make a lot of money as soon as coming back into town. Whatever he could make would help he and his sisters, so he gladly accepted his new job.

He owed it to them.

 _Are you sure about this, Flip?_ he asked his employer after being offered the position.

 _Yeah, I'm sure,_ Flip said, crossing his arms. _I'm getting sick of running this place all the time. It'd be nice to have someone to look after it once in a while. You worked here as a kid, so I guess that I trust you a little. But, Loud, if I catch you putting your hand in the tip jar when I'm not around, I'll throw you back out on the streets. Got it?_

Lincoln nodded.

That they were dead was a fact. It was a strong punch in the stomach to learn that his parents were gone forever. If he thought that running off to the army was a mistake before, after receiving the news, Lincoln's mistake was now ten times worse. Leaving in the middle of the night, not telling anyone goodbye, possibly to never see them again… what was he _thinking?_

He did it because he wanted to be stronger. All of his life, he'd been spineless, a pushover. Too weak to catch a baseball. Too much of a wimp to stand up to his bullies. Such a failure, that even at six, Lola could beat him to a pulp. Lincoln was sick of it. He was 19, young, and had his entire adult life ahead of him. He decided to join the military, and not only that, but the seals, some of the toughest soldiers on the face of the planet.

His family couldn't stop him even if they wanted to… but he still didn't tell them about it. He left in secret under the cover of night. He feared that they'd be able to talk him out of it, that they'd be able to convince him he was wrong to pull such a dangerous stunt. _Linky, y-you could_ die _!_

No, he wouldn't have any of that. He made his mind up, and Lincoln wouldn't let anyone change it for him. It was selfish, it was a terrible thing to do to his parents and sisters… but it was the only way he could grow into a man.

Training was rigorous. Some nights, after a long day at boot camp, Lincoln would be lying in his bunk bed. His arms feeling jelly, every muscle aching, and his head still spinning. He considered going back. Some nights, he wanted to get up, knock on his officer's door, and tell him he was done. Lincoln Loud, signing off.

Still, he remained strong in his goal, his fear of what would happen when he returned home galvanizing him, keeping him at boot camp. Not only would his family be disappointed in him for abandoning them… they would also be disappointed that he couldn't even cut it, that he didn't even make it past basic training.

So, he stayed at boot camp. He graduated. He became a seal. The youngest one on his team, in fact. He traveled to various foreign countries. He saw combat. He pulled the trigger multiple times… killing people.

His transformation was complete. Lincoln Loud was no longer the weakling he once was. He was a tough, skilled soldier, an instrument of war.

Then, the incident happened.

Just like that, it was over. One dumb mistake took an innocent civilian's life, a _child's_ life. Lincoln was _never_ cut out for the military, this was proof of it. He quit immediately.

Now, here he was, watching over a gas station.

He would never tell his family what he did. His personal policy was honesty, especially with his sisters (they were all he had left, after all) but a secret like _this…_ he needed to bury it deep. _No one_ could find out, ever.

 _Ever._


	4. Terrorist

**A couple of important things before I continue:**

 **1) I had to sort of rush this chapter out, as I only recently found out that I'll be going on a weeklong trip starting tomorrow (Sunday) with no internet access. This chapter is a little shorter than the rest, and for that I apologize, but it's a very juicy one nonetheless. It's my favorite one yet. I'll compensate with a longer one when I return.**

 **2) This fanfiction has a lot of rich world building, which I believe is one of it's greatest strengths. I'm not complaining, but this had been the hardest and most time consuming story that I've ever worked on.**

 **A couple of reviewers, God bless them, have criticized this story on the merit of being unrealistic, specifically with Lincoln and his time in the military. I'll say this: he was in training for about two years but only an active seal for around a couple of months before the incident and quitting. I will admit that not everything about Lincoln and his situation is 100% accurate to how it would happen real life, but my focus, as it always had been with this story, is characterization and world building. I've probably gotten some things wrong with Lincoln and the seals, I'll probably get a few things wrong with Luan and the city council, and I'll probably get some other things wrong with other characters in the future.**

 **I don't, however, think that automatically makes this story "suck". I'll let you guys make up your own minds, though.**

* * *

Her research had brought her to Cordovia. It was a small, obscure country in South America, covered in trees and vegetation.

She traveled by helicopter. Its loud blades made her ears hurt, and she closed her eyes tightly not because she was scared (the human sensation of fear had forever eluded her), but because she didn't like the wind lashing against her face.

She sat on the side of the whirlybird, her legs dangling freely out from under her. She didn't like the seats of the chopper. They were leather, the same material of Vanzilla's seats. Too many bad memories were brought back from this, and so, she elected to sit on the cold, metal floor, wind slapping her face.

She traveled not alone, not with a group, but with only a partner: Rogers, the unhinged man currently flying the helicopter.

" _Hey, Lisa!_ " he yelled. " _Holding a well black fair?_ "

" _What!_ " she screamed, trying to get him to hear her over the loud sound of the chopper. " _What the fuck are you trying to say?_ "

" _I_ said, _holding up well back there?_ "

Rogers _knew_ she hated her life right now. The bastard was messing with her. His smug smile gave it away, but Lisa had known her lab partner long enough even without that stupid grin he had right now. He was forty-five, but Lisa swore, he would sometimes act like a toddler.

She shook her head, and Roger turned around, focusing back on piloting. Things would be much more efficient if they had headsets with them to communicate, like _every_ other helicopter riders in the world used, but it was too risky. If somebody down below in Cordovia was savvy enough was able to tap into their conversation, they could find out valuable information about Lisa and Roger's research.

" _Hey!_ " he cried. " _Watch! I bet not everyone can do_ this _._ "

It was very hard to impress Lisa, and Rogers, that dumb fuck, knew this. What was he about to do? Lisa opened her eyes. Moments later, there was a blinding flash, like a giant camera going off, and a concussive thump rocked the helicopter. When Lisa looked down, she saw a smoking crater in the earth, large enough to build a house in.

" _Impressive, Rogers, real impressive,_ " yelled Lisa, mocking. " _You used a weapon_ I _designed. Want a medal?_ "

" _Hey,_ " he defended, " _I got the hit right on target You didn't exactly design this thing well enough to use easily, ya know!_ "

Lisa shrugged. She was fourteen years old, sitting dangerously on the side of a helicopter, and bickering with a man three decades older than her.

She loved her life.

* * *

She was sixteen when she lost her mother. Lola had never gotten along particularly well with Rita. Granted, they weren't sworn enemies, but there was certainly a lot of room for improvement between the two's relationship. After all, many of their conversations would devolve into arguments.

"Mom, _what_ do you want from me? I don't do drugs, I don't do that shit that Luna does, and I do well in school. So _why_ can't I go to the party?"

Like the rest of her siblings, except for Luan, who was in Hollywood, except for Lincoln, who had run away, and except for Lisa, who was gone, she was devastated with the news. That same day, to collect herself, Lola ran out of the house to get some time to herself to think. She went to the center of town and sat down on a bench. Her eyes were open wide, and she was shaking a little. Lola was in a state of shock.

She soon buried her face in her hands before beginning to sob.

Not long after, she sensed someone sitting on the bench next to her. She felt an arm wrap around her.

"You know, it makes me feel pretty shitty to watch a pretty girl like you doing crying out here alone. What's wrong?"

Lola told him, and as it turned out, Patrick had suffered through the pain of losing a parent as well. A few years prior, his father had died in a boat fire. The two connected immediately, and became fast friends. It wasn't long after before they begin to date. Patrick was a really nice guy—hot, too—and had almost no flaws. They got along very well.

The only issue Lola thought her boyfriend had was his views on the government. He considered all systems of control a flaw, and was passionate about making a change.

At times, maybe a little _too_ passionate.

One afternoon, when Lola was laying on her bed texting on her phone and Patrick was sitting at her desk doing his homework, he quickly stood up.

His back to her, he announced, "Lola, I'm going to fight against the system. Anyone working for the government is an enemy. Right now, I don't know _what_ I'm going to do—" he turned, facing her, and she could see the passion and fire in his eyes—"but I'll fight back. I'll start local, if I have to."

Patrick was an anarchist. He believed in the free spirit of man and humanity's right to live without government. Lola didn't exactly subscribe to the same beliefs, but he respected her opinions, and she still loved him nonetheless.

A couple of months later, Luan began to run for the city council. Lola tried to discourage her, but it was no use.

Lola wouldn't be caught _dead_ telling Patrick that her sister was running for the city council. He despised people that even _worked_ for the government, including even garbage collectors and mailmen.

Hopefully he wouldn't find out.

Presently, Lola was standing at the base of the staircase. She _was_ walking to the kitchen to grab a glass of milk and maybe a cookie (she was trying to cut down on sweets… for Patrick (she had begun to eat more than normal after the death of her parents)) but paused before making it out of the living room. Lincoln was sitting on the couch, watching something on the television with Luna and Lynn, and Lola couldn't help but to stare at him from behind. It was hard to believe he was really back. To Lola, he was almost like a _ghost_.

She first learned that Lincoln was back when she came home later that day a little less than a week ago. She had gotten a text from Lana: _Link is home. Get. Here. Now._

These days, Lola didn't get particularly well along with most of her sisters, but Lana especially. She was her twin, sure, but the bitch constantly whined about Patrick. _Oh, Lola,_ she would wail. _You're dating a_ terrorist _!_

Lana had found out about Patrick's… uh… political views. _Hmph._ What did _she_ know about her best interests? She was probably just jealous.

Still, it was very uncharacteristic of Lana to lie or joke about serious stuff… Lincoln, especially. So, Lola rushed home.

The past few days had been very interesting. Lincoln was back, and _that_ alone was few hard to get used to. Even right now, she could barely believe it. She was standing at the base of the staircase, looking down at her phone. Lola kept looking up, though, stealing glances at her brother. He was sitting on the couch, facing the television. It was hard to believe that he was back. Yet, here he was, right in front of her.

He must have sensed her staring at him, though, because he turned around and waved. "Uh, is everything alright?"

Lola's face turned crimson with embarrassment. "Uh, y-yeah."

She turned around, clenched her fists, put her hands firmly to her side, and marched back upstairs. _That_ was stupid.

But, that's not only why things had been so interesting as of late. Lola had been noticing very odd behavior for Leni. Let's face it, her older sister wasn't firing on all cylinders… but Leni was still doing some weird stuff even for _her_ standards.

Even weirder, though, Lola seemed to be the only one to _notice_ it. She looked around when Leni was sweating, and nobody but her seemed to notice.

 _Hmph._ Her sisters thought _she_ was oblivious. _Oh, Lola,_ they whined, _why are you_ always _on your phone? Why don't you help out around the house?_

Yeah.

Right.

* * *

Lucy Loud was in a slump.

She wanted to make a living as a writer, but didn't know far. She had had some short stories published in the local newspaper for free, and she had written everything on Luan's campaign website, but that was the extent of her success thus far.

As a kid, she would often scribble down poems. Oh, how the words came so easily to her. It wasn't like she was a child prodigy or anything—she often had to ask Lincoln for help with finding a rhyme—but she was good for her age.

Right now, she was working on a novel. Her first written book! She didn't expect it to be the next _Requiem for a Syngenesophobia,_ the current darling of the literary world, but hopefully, if she took her time, it would do well enough.

But that was the issue— _time._ She was eighteen, and her sisters _constantly_ pestered her to get a "real" job. Sure, the family really needed money, and, sure, Lucy wasn't exactly contributing much at the moment, but she was on her way to being able to do so! If they were just _patient…._ If they just _waited_ for her to finish her novel… Lucy would probably be making some _real_ dough!

But, no. They insisted that she apply to wherever she could, and quickly so. They wanted fast and immediate money, but if they just let Lucy have her way, she'd have cold, hard cash every week by the hundreds!

It was for this reason that Lucy supported Luan. Morbidly, Lucy didn't really think her older sister had what it took to win an election for even a position as the local dog catcher. Still, she looked up to and respected the comedienne. When Luan was in Hollywood, almost every night, Lucy would watch her sitcom on her phone in the darkness of her room.

It wasn't because she liked the show—Lucy thought it was stupid and corny, two qualities she _hated_ in the entertainment industry—but because Luan was the main actor, and had begun to grow too busy to keep in touch with the family. It started out with the occasional missed phone call, but eventually, it grew to a point where she didn't get in touch with anyone back in Royal Woods for a couple of entire years… causing her to miss the funeral. Watching her show was the only way for Lucy to reconnect with Luan.

When Luan finally did call home, the rest of the Loud sisters weren't exactly big fans of her. They called her greedy, self centered, stuck up… it hurt Lucy to hear this. Still, though, she came home, abandoning her blossoming career. This helped matters a little, but Luan remained generally unpopular among the Louds.

Luan lost most of the money she made in Hollywood. It wasn't like she became a billionaire, but she had been living very comfortably. When she quit, however, her agents were somehow able to snag up a large chunk of her earnings. Most actors, when signing contracts, would never agree so long as it was a rule that, should they quit before the season they are shooting is over, they are susceptible to losing most of their earnings.

Luan didn't know what she was doing, though. It was either sign that contract or sign a contract that guaranteed much less money. It wasn't like she planned on leaving, after all. Ha! That was silly.

Presently, Lucy let out a big sigh of defeat thinking about it.

Luan was running for the city council. It was so crazy that Lucy had to constantly remind herself that it was real. Lucy thought it was a stupid idea, and that it would be much more beneficial to the family if she had simply got a job. Then, she realized that her ambitions of publishing a popular novel weren't exactly very different. So, she told Luan that she thought it was a good idea. Her heart was in it, and although she had a slim chance of winning, she was _family,_ and deserved support.

Lucy went over to her bed and sat down, trying not to fall asleep but to rest. She would just relax for a little, and then get back to her novel. She _promised._

Drowsiness overtook her, however, and she finally gave in, going under her covers and moaning. Oh, how her pillow was soft and her bedsheets cozy. Much softer than her desk chair and much more comfortable than a keyboard when writing.


	5. Mystery

Wednesday. Election day.

It was morning, and Luan was nervous. Today, either the fruits of her labor would at last pay off and she would win herself a seat on the Royal Woods city council, a goal she had dreamed of reaching since she was fourteen… or she would lose.

That would be it. Game over. A person like Luan, who had no experience in politics, after losing an election, had absolutely no chance of ever being elected. It wasn't like she had any campaign money left, anyway.

Still, she remained hopeful. She worked _hard_ for this. Luan had spent countless hours simply standing on the streets holding a campaign sign, _LOUD for office!_ , talking to citizens passing by, answering their questions, telling them her plans to help the town. She had visited the local fire department, thanking the firemen for their service and promising to increase their budget if elected, which was much needed. She had even had a brief television ad on the local news, highlighting her plans and stating her positions on the issues that faced the town.

Presently, she was sitting on the couch, watching the local news. Granted, the announcement on the winners would not come for a few more hours, but Luan was too nervous and excited to do anything else but wait.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning her head to see, Luan saw Lincoln, looking back down at her with a smile.

"Good luck," he said.

She nodded.

Having Lincoln back in the house was weird. Many years ago, when Luan attended a weeklong summer camp for clowning, she and the rest of the campers wore a wristband on their arms for the entire duration of the camp with their cabin color on in. When she finally returned home and cut off the band, Luan couldn't help but to feel like it was still there for the following few days; she had become so accustomed to it, that even in its absence, she felt still it on her arm.

Eventually, this sensation stopped, but the same did not happen to Lincoln. Far too many times in the two years of Lincoln's absence did she knock on her door or call his name from downstairs, forgetting that he was gone. It shook her to the core every time the realization washed over her that he was _gone._

Now, he was back, and if having him gone felt weird… having him back felt even weirder.

"How's your job going at Flip's?"

"Not so good," he said. "Flip's making me do some pretty scummy stuff. Setting back the expiration dates of milk, recycling straws…"

Luan's hand came to her mouth. "That's _terrible_."

Lincoln nodded solemnly. "I know. I feel like a jackass agreeing to it, but if I don't, I'll be fired. We need the money. I mean, how can a guy with no real work experience like me expect to get another job with the same paycheck that I have now? He made me a manager because I interned for him as a kid. I won't find that opportunity anywhere else." He paused, shaking his head, eyes closed.

"Have you tried doing anything about it? Tipping the city health department?"

"I tried, and they said they'll be 'looking at the issue'. I don't think anything's going to happen." He let out a sigh, then punched Luan playfully on the shoulder. "Hey, if you win this election, maybe _you_ can do something about it."

Luan nodded, slowly at first, but picked up speed fast. " _Yeah_ , maybe I can!"

The prospect of actually having some _power_ to do things in the town and benefit the citizens of Royal Woods was invigorating to Luan, more so now than ever before.

She _really_ hoped she won.

Suddenly, the front door flew open, and Lola stormed in.

"Un-bel- _ievable!_ " She slammed it behind her, and the house shook.

"Lola!" cried Luan. "What the hell's wrong?"

She gritted her teeth. " _Patrick,"_ she said, growling. "I want to _rip_ that boy in half!"

Before Luan could question any further, Lola stormed upstairs.

She looked back at Lincoln, and he shrugged. She shrugged back.

* * *

Lynn Loud was born for greatness. She knew this to be a fact.

The only problem, though, was that her family just didn't understand. If she had been able to pursue sports as a lifelong career as she always dreamed, Lynn would be an olympian by now. Call her arrogant, call her stupid, but it was _true_.

The first time she had joined a real sports team (not counting little league baseball or kiddie soccer games) was her middle school's cross-country team. She was in 6th grade. The first day of the first race against a rival team, Lynn was nervous. She was pretty good at running, sure, but this was _cross-country_. In this sport, you had to give it your all. There was no resting. Unlike football and baseball, where you were running for less than half of the game, in cross-country, the _entire_ sport was running. No breaks. You couldn't take a breather on the sidelines or walk off a cramp, no. In practice and in a race, it was one continuous sprint to the finish line.

She started off poorly. The coach lifted his hand to start the race, and right off the bat, Lynn faltered and fell just as she started to run; she had forgotten to tie her shoes.

Quickly, not wanting to waste time, she tucked her laces in her shoes and stood up to run again. She was only a 6th grader at the time. All of her teammates and all of the rival team members seemed so much bigger than her. In the middle of the pack, it was difficult to see where she was even going.

Her spirit never withered, however, and she pushed on, right to the front of the line. At last, she could actually see what direction she was heading in. By this point, Lynn was approaching the woods.

The shade of the trees made it much darker, which was good. The sun was beginning to get hot, and already, Lynn's shirt was covered in sweat. As she went on, Lynn noticed the dirt path becoming more and more grassy. It was becoming increasingly difficult to follow it.

Before long, Lynn was lost in the woods, far ahead of any of her teammates. She began to grow nervous, not at the prospect of being lost, but at the realization that if she didn't get back on track soon, she would come in last place. _At her first meet._

 _Oh, God,_ she thought. She was starting to cramp up. Sure, like her coach had instructed the team to do, she had stretched before the run… for a little bit. Personally, Lynn didn't see the point in stretching. She knew she was going to finish the race so fast it didn't matter if she did so or not. Only now was she realizing her mistake.

She was running out of breath, too. Her body was screaming at her to _stop!_ , but she knew she had to push on. There was no way in _hell_ that Lynn would do poorly at her first race at her first sport for school.

Then, she vomited. Luckily, no one was around. Lynn was ashamed for pushing herself too hard, but at least she felt a lot better.

She ran out of the woods, and saw a giant pack of runners making their way across the grassy field. She joined them, sprinting to catch up. It took her a while, but soon enough, she was at the front of the line. The finish line was in sight. She won in first place that day.

After the race, her coach came up to her. "Loud, where the hell did you go? I didn't see you until the end of the race!"

"Uh, I was running through the woods."

"The _woods!_ That wasn't part of the course!"

Even after spending _half_ of the race off course, Lynn still won. If _she_ wasn't olympic material, _who_ was?

Presently, she was sitting on the couch next to Luan. The TV was on, but Lynn wasn't really paying attention!

"I _won!_ " Luan cried, breaking Lynn out of her trance. "I won I won I won!"

Lynn looked at the television. It showed Luan's face, with the text CITY COUNCIL MEMBER - LOUD underneath it.

Luan had actually won. Now _that_ was a surprise. Lynn didn't ever think that her older sister of one year actually had it in her to win a seat on the city council, but the evidence was here, right in front of her.

Should she be happy for her? Because she wasn't. Lynn was 23 years old and working a dead end job taking orders and cooking patties at the Burpin' Burger, while Luan got to sit around all day in a cozy chair in an air conditioned room just listening to complaints and voting for stuff, probably making hundreds of dollars per day in the process. It wasn't fair. It was _such_ bullshit! Her _olympic_ tier talent was going to _waste!_ She was _rotting_ at the Burpin' Burger!

She would make a change soon.

* * *

It was Clyde McBride's first day on his new job.

For most of his life, Clyde had a clear direction, a path that he planned to travel. In his youth, even in elementary school, he already knew what he wanted to do in life—Clyde was going to go into school administration. In his elementary school, he was a Jr. Administrator at just eleven years old. He raised the flag every day before school, narrated the morning announcements, and even oversaw the hall monitor team.

Because of his experience, he only needed to go to college for two years. Once he graduated, Clyde became the Vice Principal at Royal Woods High. Things were going very well for him. He was ambitious, set high goals, and had spent his youth training for the future rather than doing what most kids did—partying, hanging out with friends, playing video games… sure, Clyde sometimes spent time doing these things with Lincoln, but as he grew more and more involved in learning what he needed to in order to succeed later in life, the two slowly began to drift apart.

They kept in touch, sure, but they weren't nearly as good as friends as they once were. It was a shame, sure, but Clyde had more important things to worry about in life. After all, at just twenty-one years old, Clyde was already a Vice Principal, one of the youngest people in his profession.

At least, until the scandal.

It was Clyde's personal policy to follow rules. Rules, after all, gave a sense of order. They help you focus, keep you in line. Hell, society was _built_ upon rules—civilization as a whole depends on restraint. He wasn't perfect, sure, but Clyde did his best to follow them. That all changed, though, when _she_ came into his life.

Emily. She was a senior student at Royal Woods High. Dark black hair, fair skin, big, warm eyes—she wasn't the _most_ attractive student Clyde had seen, but she was relatively good looking. Clyde was sitting in his office, mulling over paperwork, when she came in. Emily told him that she was having problems with her math teacher, Mr. Baldi. She said that he was being unfair to her, that he often singled her out in class, calling on her when he _knew_ she didn't know the answer. That he graded her papers stricter than he graded anyone else's, deducting points for the smallest of grammatical errors.

Now, Clyde knew Mr. Baldi well, just like the rest of the facility at Royal Woods High. He went out of his way to strike up a conversation with all of the staff at the school, right down to the janitor. He knew about their families, he knew about problems they were going through. Clyde wanted to go above and beyond at work, after all.

Mr. Baldi may be strict, but that was only because he wanted the best for his students. Once you get to know him, he was actually a very nice guy—in fact, he was a student favorite.

Why, then, was Clyde getting a complaint about him? His first thought was that Emily had something against her teacher. Maybe she was angry for flunking a test, or perhaps she had cut up in class and earned a detention.

"I'm afraid I'm going to need more students to back you up before I can take any action against Mr. Baldi, or at least some more students to back you up."

Emily crossed her arms and left. And that, Clyde thought, was the end of it.

But he was wrong.

Emily came to his apartment a couple of days later. She rung the doorbell, and when Clyde went to answer it, he saw her standing outside of his door, holding a box of cupcakes.

"What is it, Emily?"

"Mr. McBride, you just look like somebody that needs some cupcakes in your life right about now."

Before she knew it, Emily walked back Clyde, going into his apartment uninvited. She threw herself down on his couch.

Clyde, frustrated, set the box of cupcakes down on his coffee table and stood over Emily, crossing his arms. "Is there a reason you came here?"

"Mr. McBride," she said. "I have an offer that you may be unable to refuse."

So, here he was, his first day working in a brand new field—the restaurant business. No, he wasn't a restaurant owner, or a manager, or a cook, or even a waiter… he was a security guard.

At a pizza place.

On the night shift.

It was a giant step down from where he once was, the prestigious and young Vice Principal of Royal Woods High, but, hey, he messed up. What was he supposed to do? Throw in the towel and be homeless from the rest of his life? The mistake he made was a big one, yeah, but it wasn't the end of his life. If he thought about it that'd way, he'd be living on the streets. So, here he was, starting fresh in a new line of work, the bottom of the ladder.

All he had to do was sit in his office and watch the cameras. Clyde personally didn't know why the hell the pizzeria hired a security guard to watch over the place overnight. Wouldn't locking the place up and adding alarms work just as well? Whatever. It gave him a job, and if he did well enough, he'd rise up the ranks fast. Hell, maybe he'd soon be a general manager. Who knows?

Presently, Clyde kicked his feet up on his desk. His office was getting hot, so he turned on his fan. Looking up at his camera screens, he saw absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. The entire restaurant was empty. Various chairs were out of place from customers leaving in a hurry. The tablecloths were rumbled, waiting for waiters on the morning shift to straighten them out. Clyde shuddered at just how _creepy_ the place could get at nighttime.

Heh. It reminded him of that old cartoon. You know, the where—

 _Clang!_

Clyde jumped in his chair. From over in the kitchen, he heard a loud noise, like somebody dropping a pot. Immediately, he stood up and turned on his flashlight. Unconsciously, his hand fluttered to his side where his baton was clipped on to.

He listened closely for a while, his ears on full alert, listening for the smallest of sounds. Nothing. The pizzeria went back to dead silent as it was before.

Odd. Still, Clyde was curious. He decided to investigate. Slowly, he opened his office door and made his way down the hallway to the dining room, and then into the kitchen. When opening the door, he did so carefully, almost as if making any noise would awaken some terrible monster that would come from out of nowhere and eat him whole.

Once inside, he moved his flashlight quickly around. He saw a pot on the floor—it had fallen off of the rack from above.

Clyde let out a breath of relief, one that he didn't know that he was holding. _Just a pot_ , he thought. _Just a pot_. Ever since he was young, he had been a bit jumpy. He outright refused to watched scary movies, and he slept with a nightlight in his bedroom even into his teens. Apparently, a lot of that hadn't yet left him.

He walked over to the pot, picked it up, and put it back up on the rack. Next, he left the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

On his walk back to the office, Clyde chuckled at how irrational he had been. What was there to worry about? Sure, the pizzeria was a bit creepy at night time, but there was no real _danger_. He got all scared over nothing. Silly Clyde.

" _ROAAAAAAEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"_

What the _fuck_ was _that?_

Immediately, Clyde assumed a defensive position, backing against a wall and grabbing his baton from his side. He rapidly aimed his flashlight around the dining room, frantically searching for the source of the sound.

It was a thundering _roar,_ but it sounded inhuman. Come to think of it, no _animal_ Clyde had ever heard of could be capable of making such a noise either—what _was_ it?

He was sweating bullets, now, slowly backing away, back to his office, back to safety. What _ever_ it was, telling from the roar, it sounded _close._ Clyde's entire body was trembling with terrible fear. His hands became sticky from sweat, and he had to hold on tighter to his flashlight and baton to prevent them from falling out of his hands.

What was he supposed to do? Call 9-1-1? No, it would hear him. Run back to his office? No, it would hear that, too. His best option, Clyde thought, was to continue making small steps back to his office. There, he could lock the door, perhaps put something heavy up against it. Once he did that, he would decide what to do. Maybe—

Then, it struck.


	6. Mexican A

"Mr. McBride," Emily said. "I have an offer that you may be unable to refuse."

"That being?"

"First," she said, digging in her pocket, "take this."

He held out his hand, and she dropped three small, round white things into his open palm.

"What the hell is this?"

"Mexican A," she said nonchalantly, throwing a couple into her mouth.

"Are these _drugs?_ "

Emily shrugged. "No. Maybe. Not really. Just try them."

"You come into my house uninvited, give me some cupcakes, and think that it's okay to try to get me to do some _drugs?_ "

"Mr. McBride, you're _so_ high-strung!" She began to laugh like an idiot. "Learn to _live_ every once in a while!"

Clyde took his job very seriously, and the professional thing to do at this point would be to notify the police immediately. He wouldn't try getting Emily charged with trespassing, but he would definitely report that a high school student was doing… Mexican A, whatever _that_ was. Clyde didn't even know if she was a legal adult. She could have been either seventeen or eighteen, but he didn't know which.

While he wanted to do this, another part of him wanted to… unwind. He'd just worked a long and hard week. A student was in the process of being expelled, somebody had started to leave stink bombs in the hallway lockers every morning, and one of his teachers had unexpectedly quit; finding a substitute to temporarily fill her place was proving to be very difficult.

 _This is so dumb,_ he thought. Clyde was almost certainly going to regret this down the road… but he had the desire to take some Mexican A and hang out with one of his students. Call him crazy, but a dude has to have some fun every now and again, right?

He'd just take a little, the three round things she'd already given him. They were probably weak, anyway. He didn't think Emily had it in her to be able to get her hands on any really hard stuff.

 _Why the hell am I doing this?_ He threw them in his mouth and swallowed them, leaving a weird taste behind.

He sat down on the couch. Nothing yet had happened. He reached out to the coffee table and grabbed a cupcake, unwrapped it, and ate it. It was surprisingly good. Clyde sunk back into the couch, relaxing.

Emily, too, grabbed a cupcake. As she ate, she spoke. "Mmm, good stuff."

Her voice was hard to understand with a mouthful of food, but Clyde was at least able to understood what he said. He swallowed. "Oh, Emily," said Clyde, "you said that you had an offer for me. What is it?"

"Welllll…" She began to twirl a strand of her hair around her finger. "I was thinking, maybe, you know, you could help me with my math quiz?"

"Do you expect me to stand over you during math class and give you answers?"

She giggled dumbly. "No, silly. I have it right here." She reached in her pocket, felt around a bit, and took out a crumpled sheet of paper. She unfolded it. Low and behold, it actually _was_ a math test.

"H-How the hell did you get this?"

"How do you think, Clydie-widie? I took it off of Mr. Baldi's desk."

Clyde let out a long, annoyed sigh. He was already in over his head, hanging out with a student and accepting bribes. But helping her cheat on a test? That was _way_ beyond his limits as a Vice Principal.

"No," he said.

It started to snow, which was odd, considering that it was summer. Clyde's hands tightly gripped the steering wheel.

"Turn on the wipers," Emily said, sitting next to him in the passenger seat. She was right. The snow was beginning to cover the windshield, obscuring his view.

Wait… what? Clyde jolted upward in his car seat. The last thing he remembered, he had been in his living room eating a cupcake. Now… he was driving a car?

"Turn on the wipers, Mr. McBride!"

Oh. Right. He turned on his windshield wipers, and the snow started to go away. Clyde squinted his eyes. Actually, looking closer, it wasn't snow… it was rain. It was just raining. Drip, drop, drop.

" _Clyde? ...Clyde?_ "

Wait a minute. Clyde recognized those voices! It was his parents.

"H-Hello?" he said.

" _Clyde, why did you call us?_ "

Clyde shook his head and looked around. He was suddenly on top of some sort of building, and it had turned night; the sky above him was covered in stars, and a full moon shone brightly down on him. He was right on the edge, holding on to a railing. He had no clue _where_ he was. The building he stood atop was tall. A city so large that he couldn't see the end was spread out underneath him. Did… did he drive all the way to _Detroit?_

"Yeah, _Clyde_ ," said Emily, walking up from behind him and standing next to him, gripping the railing. She said his name in a mocking singsong tone. Still, at the same time, she somehow managed to say it with some respect, as if trying it on for size. She wasn't used to acting so informal around a Vice Principal, after all. "Why _did_ you call them?"

Clyde looked down at his arm, then his hand, then his phone that was in his hand, confused.

"You just took your phone out and started dialing a number," Emily said. "Why the hell did you call your parents?"

" _Clyde? Clyde?_ "

As if in slow motion, Clyde helplessly watched his phone fall out of his hands. Butterfingers! He'd have to buy a new one when he got back to Royal Woods.

He looked down at his feet, and they were wet. Clyde looked back up; he saw an ocean. Somehow, he had wound up at the beach.

"Clyde?" asked Emily. She lightly knocked on his head. "Hello? Anyone home in there? Clyde? You said you were going to help me cheat on my test. Clyde? Hello? You keep turning off on me. Clyde?"

When he awoke, he was back in his house, but he was a _mess_ —his clothes were dirty, his hair looked like a rat's nest, and he could just _tell_ that his breath smelled abhorrent. He rubbed his eyes, then ran to the bathroom, vomiting into his toilet. When he came to school Monday, he was informed that he had lost his job—Mr. Baldi could tell that Emily cheated, and it didn't take her long to fess up and admit it was Clyde who helped her. She told the whole story.

He ate the rest of the cupcakes.

* * *

Lori Loud walked into the building, and from behind the front desk, the receptionist tipped his hat as she walked by. She carried a briefcase and was dressed formally; it was time for another day at work.

She went into the elevator, and it was empty. After hitting the button corresponding with the floor number that her office was on, she reached deep in her pocket and took out a small capsule filled with a white powder. Quickly, she unscrewed the lid and brought it to her nose, sniffing deeply. A little pick-me-up cocaine to start the day was always welcome. This job was important, and the last thing she needed to do was fall asleep in a meeting or be drowsy while trying to convince a client about something over the phone.

The elevator door opened, and she began to walk down the hall to her office. Yeah, she knew that drugs were bad for her, sure—but working at an investment bank could get so damn _stressful_ at times. Lori found that when she stayed clean for days a time, she often got on edge, yelling at her siblings.

She found herself yelling a lot at them recently.

She loved them, but she had a life outside of them, too, you know. At least, she used to. She and Bobby were living together, planning to start a family. Then, her parents died. Like it was a magnet, Louds returned to their childhood home (with the exception of Luan and Lincoln). She wanted to start living there again, at least for a little while. She needed to be with her family in the difficult time they were facing.

Bobby disagreed. He was fine with Lori visiting, and even staying for a week or a week and a half, but _moving_ back for the foreseeable future? That was too much for him.

"They're family, Bobby," Lori had told him.

"Then what am _I?_ What are our future children?"

They were going to get married in the spring, but now, _that_ wasn't going to happen anytime soon… if ever. Maybe, once things were back to normal, Lori could move back in with Bobby. Maybe they can pick up where they left off. They had been together for so long… it seemed foolish to throw that all away over _one_ conflict, after all.

Lori looked down at the empty bottle in her hand. Luna, the family alcoholic, may be a complete loser, but if she was good for anything, it was being an example of what _not_ to do. Lori really didn't like doing drugs, but with this job, the stress at home, and the prospect of possibly never being able to make amends with Bobby… it all added up. She needed some relief every now and again.

In a rush of fear and apprehension, Lori tightened her grip and crushed the capsule in her hand. She threw it to the side of the elevator. She'd try staying clean, at least for a month. Starting now.

Work, like always, went by in a blur. At the end of every shift, Lori didn't remember even one tenth of what she had done all day. Phone calls, meetings, paperwork… it was all the same at this point. Work.

At least it brought in money. As Lori got off the train and began to search for her car in the vast parking lot, she realized, not for the first time, that without her, the Loud family would be in shambles… a lot of her sisters might even be homeless by now. As much as she wanted a normal life with Bobby, that wasn't a possibility at the moment. Not if she didn't want to see her siblings on the street.

Driving home, Lori turned on the radio to numb her mind. Instinctively, she began to reach in the console of her car for a little more cocaine, but then remembered that she was trying to stay clean for a little while. She sighed and put her hands back on her steering wheel, tightening her grip.

She parked her car on the grass, got out, and slammed the door behind her. Since most of her siblings had a car, the driveway was always too full to use. It could fit two cars, maybe three, and another could go in the garage (that was, at least, until Luan converted it into her campaign office), but that was it. The grass around the driveway was almost all yellow from a severe lack of sunlight and rainwater since cars were always parked atop of it. It would be fine as long as people used the hose to water it every now and again, but, _no,_ apparently that was too much work.

Lori went inside, and as soon as she walked through the front door, Luan jumped in front of her from the kitchen and threw her arms up.

"I won!"

"Huh?"

"I _won_ the election!"

"Oh, _wow._ You actually did it, huh?"

Well, _that_ was unexpected. Lori would never have expected Luan to win the city council election. She, like most of the rest of her sisters, had told her to just get a normal job when she brought up the idea a few months ago. Apparently, though, she was wrong.

Lori began to walk to the stairs, ready for a nap. She would throw her briefcase in the corner of her room and throw herself face first in bed. As she walked by, Luan's face turned to disappointment, almost as if to say, _that's all you're gonna say?_

* * *

The most joyful moment of Luan's life was when she saw her name on the TV that afternoon.

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER - LOUD

The rolling text went across the screen, as well as all of the other election winners. "I won!" she cried out. "I won I won I won!"

Lucy, sitting on her right, let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God," she said. "You actually did it, Luan."

Lynn sat on her left. She remained silent, arms crossed.

Lincoln came out from the kitchen. In one hand, he held a bowl, and in his other, he held a spoon. He was baking cookies. Win or lose, he wanted to celebrate the end of Luan's long, hard campaign. "You won? Luan, that's great!"

He was wearing a white apron, and although it wasn't pink like Dad's… it reminded Luan a lot of him.

 _Dad,_ she thought, _you raised a family in Royal Woods. Now, I get to make the town a better place._

She went to bed that night overjoyed and invigorated. Soon enough, she would actually begin to be able to make _changes_ in Royal Woods. She could _help_ people, she could make their lives _better_.

Mayor Glen would be proud.

The sun rose. Luan was certainly _not_ a morning person. It often took her a great while to get out of bed, and she acted like a zombie during the breakfast hour. Today, however, she practically _jumped_ out of bed, filled with energy. In just a few days, she would take her seat in the Royal Woods town hall and attend her first meeting.

Life was _good._

For breakfast, she ate one of the leftover cookies. While munching, Luan rested her arms on the kitchen counter and looked out the window. The morning sky was orange and beautiful. It wasn't often that Luan got up this soon; she savored the sight.

The front door open, and Lynn, covered in sweat, came in. She had awoken even earlier than Luan to go on her daily morning jog.

"Morning," Luan chirped.

"Mornin'," Lynn grunted. She marched over to the fridge and grabbed the milk carton, threw off the cap, and lifted it up to her face where she gulped.

"You're drinking out of the _carton?_ That's so disgusting."

Lynn ignored her. She continued gulping, and loudly so. Soon enough, she finished off the entire gallon.

"Doesn't matter," she said, crunching the now empty plastic carton in her hand. "I drank the whole thing."

Luan sighed. "You better shower," she said. "You have work soon."

Lynn walked over to the living room, dropped down, and began doing pushups on the carpet.

"Nope," she said proudly, continuing to exercise. "I quit."

"You… you _what?_ "

"I quit my job at the Burpin' Burger."

" _Why?_ "

Lynn turned around, now on her back. She began to do stomach crunches.

"It's such a waste of my potential." Her breathing was becoming ragged, now, from the exercise.

Luan brought her hand to her face, shook her head, and sighed. "What the hell are you going to do now?"

Lynn finished her crunches and stood. She shrugged. "I don't know. Anything's better than that dead end fast food job, though." She made her way over to the kitchen table and grabbed the morning paper. "Hey, the pizzeria is hiring a brand new security guard. _That's_ a start, I guess." Lynn looked up, fantasizing. "Maybe, I can use my strength to put a stop to a riot or something. Then, I'll be noticed, and I can _really_ start moving up in the world."

 _At least she's looking for another job,_ Luan thought. Still, it was a dumb move to quit the Burpin' Burger. Lynn should have at _least_ waited until Luan started her term on the city council.

Luan collapsed onto the couch, and turned on the TV. She couldn't pay attention, though; all she could think about was how to help the town once she got to work.

In the kitchen, Lynn made a phone call. She talked for a while, but Luan wasn't paying attention.

Lynn hung up. "Hey!" she said, walking over to the couch. She rested her arms on the back, behind Luan, and bent down, relaxing. "They said I can start tomorrow."

Luan shrugged. "Oh, that's good, I guess."

* * *

Leni wasn't dumb. Sure, she could be a ditz sometimes, but she was getting better. She had actually learned to drive, and her grades in college (she had graduated 2 years ago) were much better than the kind of grades that she was getting in middle school and high school.

What wasn't getting better with Leni, however, was her paranoia.

Recently, everyone had been caught up in Lincoln's return that they didn't pay much attention to Leni—there was one incident, however, where she was caught in the middle of a panic attack.

She was in the middle of the living room. People were doing stuff—Lana had been putting on her boots at the front door to get ready to go to work, Lincoln and some sisters were watching television, Lynn was in the kitchen, blending a protein shake—and then it happened. Leni, she swore to _Christ_ , saw a shadow quickly go across the front yard. Something was outside—it was coming to get her. She just knew it.

She started to walk backward, slowly, and began to sweat profusely. Immediately, she began to think of how to defend herself… how to save her life. Something dangerous was coming to get her. First, Leni thought, she should run to her room. It was smaller, and easier to fortify. She would draw the curtains, lock the doors, push her dresser, maybe even her bed (who _know_ how strong the thing was?) in front of her door. She would arm herself, too. Maybe she'd roll up one of the posters on her wall and bonk the thing on her head if it got in her room.

No one seemed to notice this… no one, that was, but Lola. She was at the base of the stairs looking at Lincoln (Leni didn't blame her, having him back was _weird_ —it was hard to get used to), but once Leni had started breaking down, Lola took notice. From then on, she had been looking at her strangely. Her siblings often criticized Lola for having her nose in her phone all the time, but when Leni was freaking out in the living room, only she had paid any attention to see it.

Come to find out, there really wasn't anything outside of the door that day. Poor Leni's mind had just been playing tricks on her. She quickly built up the courage to quickly go outside and check. Lots of her siblings were in the living room, after all—if she was attacked, they would come help.

Nothing was there—the shadow she saw had just been a plane flying over their yard, she realized.

Incidents like this were common. The smallest of things would set her into panic mode—it was a ruthless cycle.

She considered telling someone about it, probably Lincoln or Lori, but Leni decided against it. Everyone was stressed, and she didn't want to make things worse. They might think she was weird, too, and she didn't want that. Like, who in the right mind freaks out about a shadow in their front yard? Certainly nobody normal, that's for sure.

She often wondered why she was so jumpy as of late… then it hit her. Ever since she lost her son, Cassidy, the panic attacks had started.

It made sense. Sure, getting scared over the shadow of a plane really doesn't have much to do with the loss of a family member… but there really wasn't any other explanation for Leni's recent paranoia. Her son was important to her, a big piece in her life. Then, he was just swept away, little more than _stolen_ from her by her ex-boyfriend, Owen. Certainly, that couldn't be good for her paranoia. Leni had always been a bit jumpy when she was younger. She would freak out over a _spider,_ after all. Now, though, even a shadow could set her off. It was a true tragedy.

She had woken up one morning, and Owen wasn't sleeping next to her. Leni figured that he had just gotten up early… she checked the kitchen, then Cassidy's room, then the rest of the house, and neither of them were anywhere to be found.

By then, Leni was panicking. Then, she saw a sticky note posted to the coffee maker:

 _Leni,_

 _This isn't working._

 _I'm doing what's best for us and for our son._

 _Goodbye._

None of her siblings knew about Cassidy; she hadn't yet told them. He was born just around the same time that her parents had died, and she didn't want her news to add to the chaos with her news.

Presently, Leni sighed. She had just gotten home from the mall. Although she didn't buy anything due to her and her sibling's dwindling funds, she still liked going—it reminded her of her childhood. Cassidy wasn't even a year old at this point, and he was gone from her life, probably forever. She needed some Leni time every now and again to cope… to forget.


	7. Cassidy

**There's been a couple of people who's said that the story is unfocused. Admittedly, there's no clear linear story yet, but that's going to change soon.**

 **Also, in my opinion, this is the best chapter yet.**

* * *

When Luan walked into the town hall for her face meeting, obviously, she was nervous. The cameras were already rolling—the meeting, like all of the others, would be broadcasted live around Royal Woods. Granted, there were only probably a couple of hundred people watching (maybe a bit more, since people were likely interested on how Luan, someone with no prior experience in public service, would fair), but it was still nerve-wracking nonetheless.

She made her way up to the stage, aware of the eyes of the attendees on her back. Her spot, like the rest, was labeled with a nameplate— **LUAN LOUD**.

She sat and faced the audience. The room was big, but only about one third of the seats were filled. Not many people, after all, liked to spend their Monday nights at a boring town hall meeting. On Luan's left was a fellow town hall member. She leaned in close and whispered.

"How long do these things usually go?"

"The meetings are scheduled for five hours, but they sometimes run long."

Luan's eyes went wide. _Five_ hours? And they can go _longer?_

She took a deep breath and sank back into her chair.

Eventually, the meeting began. An elderly lady shuffled up to the microphone at the bottom of the stage and tapped it, making sure it was on. "Hello," she said. "I would like to make a complaint." The lady spoke slow and dragged out each word. "The speed limit on Fazbear Avenue is too high. Normally, when people go down the street, they go anywhere between five and ten miles per hour. However, there are _some_ individuals who elect to go down at twenty or sometimes even thirty miles! It's a dead end street, and a short one at that. There's no reason for anyone to be going that fast."

 _Oh, Christ,_ thought Luan, zoning out. The old lady was talking, but she didn't hear a word she said. It was so… _boring._ When Luan wanted to join the city council, she thought that she would be helping the poor, improving the town's education, and making Royal Woods a better place. Not… _this_.

She sighed deeply, and checked her watch. Luan was only fifteen minutes into the meeting. This was going to be a long night.

The old lady eventually finished, though this took a great deal of time to happen. She talked for half an hour, and said nothing of importance. They were just… _words_. Meaningless. Empty. _Boring_.

Then, a fat man came up to the microphone and started to talk about the local pool. He complained that not enough chemicals were being used. Luan almost blushed. Growing up, she and her siblings actually had gotten the pool closed for a week when Lily had an, erm, accident. Hopefully nobody remembered that—one of the downsides to being a city council member in a town that you grew up in your whole life is that people likely remembered all the stupid things you did as a kid.

The man continued to talk, but Luan didn't pay attention. She drummed her fingers on the hardwood table to pass the time. _Drum, drum, drum_. Talk, talk, talk.

Luan let out a long, bored sigh, and this earned a dirty look from the city council member to her right. She blushed. Whoops.

The man eventually stopped talking, and up came a teenager explaining why the town should expand the local skatepark. Talk, talk, talk.

An hour in, and Luan was board out of her school. She seriously mulled over the possibility of falling asleep, but ultimately decided against it. Sleeping on the first day of the job? _That's_ no way to win reelection.

By now, a skinny, tall woman was talking. "In conclusion," she was saying, "the good reasons for adding a stop sign at the end of Daffy Drive far outweigh the bad." She had spoken for an _hour_ , and all she had requested was for a _stop sign_ to be put on her street.

Luan checked her watch. Only three and a half hours to go… if the meeting didn't run late.

The head of the board turned to her. "What's your opinion on the matter, City Council Member Loud?"

There was a brief moment of silence. Then, Luan sat up in her chair. "You want to know what _I_ think?" She stood, " _I_ think that you people are _all_ insane! You let that lady talk for an _hour_ and she said _nothing._ " Luan stepped away from the table, and pushed her chair back in with a great force. It made a loud _bang!_ as it hit the desk. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something to get back to, and it's called a _life!"_

As the crowd gasped, Luan stormed down the aisle and out of the building.

* * *

Leni Loud slipped on her raincoat, slipped into her boots, and opened the front door.

Lynn, morning coffee in hand, sat at the kitchen table. She had just came back from her morning run. Lynn usually got up really early to run, but today, she did her morning routine a bit later. Today was her first day working at the pizza place. She looked up from her newspaper.

"Uh, where are you going?"

"The mall," Leni lied, and went outside. She closed the door behind her.

Leni didn't want to drive her car to where she was going. Owen might see her license plate, and she didn't want that. Instead, she would walk.

She stepped down the front steps, out of the protective cover that the porch offered. Rain poured onto Leni, but she trudged onward, speed walking. She went through a puddle on her front sidewalk, but her big boots kept her feet dry.

She didn't know exactly where she was going—Owen had left without giving even any hints of where he was going, remember?—but Leni couldn't just sit around at home and _wait._ _That_ wouldn't get her son back. She would look around Royal Woods. It was unlikely, but Leni hoped for at least a _clue._

A smarter person might have asked Leni, _if you're walking all over town, why not wait until it stopped raining?_ Leni knew that it would have probably been better to wait a little longer, but she _couldn't_ wait. She had been sick to death the past few weeks thinking about Cassidy, her son. She wanted him back, she wanted it more than _anything._ At the very least, she wanted to hold him… if not that, please, God, could Leni just _see_ him?

She shivered. She had a better sense of fashion than most, and Leni had dressed appropriately for the weather, but it was still very cold and very wet and very unforgiving.

Back when she was a Mom (though, Leni supposed, she was _still_ a mom… just a mom without a son), Cassidy _loved_ playing in the backyard when it was raining. In her small kitchen, Leni would button up the three-year-old's raincoat and help him put on his boots. Then, she would watch as she opened the front door and he scurried to the first puddle he could find. Cassidy stomped in it, squealing with joy, until the puddle was gone. Then, he moved on to the next.

While Leni watched from inside, her eyes wide with adoration, Owen had come up behind her and put his arm around Leni, bringing her close.

"Best job I ever had," he said.

Owen had worked at a bank, but in that moment, he was referring to his job as a father. He kissed Leni on the cheek.

What happened?

Presently, Leni sat down at a nearby bench to rest. She had left in the morning, and already, it was starting to get dark out. The raining had stopped, but the clouds were still dark and ominous in the sky and the day was bleak. A lady walked out and went by Leni.

"Excuse me?" asked Leni. "Do you know where I can buy a map?"

The lady looked at her. "Pardon?"

"Do you know where I can buy a map?"

"A map of where?"

Leni rolled back and forth on the balls of her feet, nervous. "A map of here."

"I don't know." She paused. "Where do you want to get to?"

"I'm going to the end of town."

The lady laughed, "You don't need a map to get to there. You can see it from here." She pointed over the trees. "Just follow down the road, the town line ends in a couple of blocks."

Leni nodded, and the stranger began to walk away. Leni started to walk down the town sidewalk, looking around for a clue as to where Owen and Cassidy may be. Then, a familiar car drove past. Leni looked behind her. The car slowed, then stopped. Then, it began to drive backwards. When it was back next to Leni, the window rolled down.

" _Leni?_ " asked Luan. "What are you doing out here? You're soaking wet!"

" _Luan?_ Why are you driving around? The town hall meeting doesn't end for another three hours!"

While the two were riding home, Luan pressed Leni for information, and she broke down and told everything; Owen, how she had had a son with him, and how the two were now gone and Leni didn't know where.

"I-I wanted to t-t-tell you guys that I was p-pregnant," sobbed Leni, "b-b-but Mom and D-Dad died, a-and I d-d-din't want to make things more c-omplicated for e-e-e-everyone…"

Luan put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Leni," she said honestly, "you _always_ put others before yourself. I bet any money that you're the only one who knew how long my town hall meeting was supposed to go until. Hell, _I_ didn't even know until I got there." She squeezed. "You're a really good sister, you know that? You need to _tell_ us stuff. You can't keep suffering in silence… we're here to _help._ That's why I ran for city council. That's why Lincoln came back home. We're here for you… okay?"

Leni bit her lip, thought about it for a second, and then quickly nodded. " _Okay._ "

* * *

It was Monday, Lynn's first day on the job. She was working as the night guard on the night shift at the pizzeria in the remote part of town.

One day, one day _soon,_ she would reach her full potential, but for now, she would work this dead end job to please her family. _Oh, Lynn, we need money! I know you_ just _quit your job at the Burpin' Burger, but could you find another one? Pretty please?_ She worked at night, now, so at least she could practice during the daytime.

Lynn kicked her feet up on her desk. At least it was easy work. All she had to do was watch the cameras and make sure nobody broke in. She could just relax in her office (hell, maybe even take a nap) and then be out of here at six.

She glanced at her monitor and checked the cameras. The restaurant was completely empty. Lynn pulled her security guard cap down over her eyes, and closed them.

Little did she know, right behind her, a camera was watching _her._

Lisa Loud, many miles away, stood amazed in front of her monitor. Her eyes widened. "Lynn…" she mumbled. "You don't know what the hell you've gotten yourself into."

Lisa left her monitor and scurried down the hallway to Rogers' office door. She knocked, forcing herself not to rush in doing so. Lisa was in panic, but she didn't want to show this.

Rogers came out, and rubbed his eyes. It was late. "Yeah?"

"Uh, Rogers? Theoretically speaking, if we wanted to, uh, pause the experiment… could we do so?"

He thought for a moment, and shook his head. " _You_ were the one who set it up, Lisa. You didn't really leave any room for us to pause. If we tried, all the research we've done so far would go to waste." He looked at her with suspicion. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason," she lied. "I'll just be, uh, getting back to work, now."

Rogers closed his door, and Lisa walked, then ran, down the hallway back to observatory room 260-B. She looked at the cameras. Lynn was still sitting with her feet up on the desk, motionless. Was the _fucker_ asleep?

"Lynn," Lisa muttered, "you insufferable twat. _Pay attention!_ "


	8. Album

The line was long, but worth it. Lola stood holding Patrick's hand, and this feeling was intoxicating, so she didn't mind the waiting all that much.

They were at Five Seasons, the fanciest restaurant in Royal Woods. At least once a week, the couple made an effort to get out for a date. In the first few weeks of Lola knowing Patrick, she thought that finding the time to do this would be hard. After all, Patrick was taking a summer study course, and Lola was spending a lot of time with her family after the recent deaths of her parents.

However, it seemed that _most_ of Lola's time recently was spent with Patrick. Love, she supposed, could do that to someone.

Eventually, the line moved on and they were finally at the front.

The maître d'hôtel was too busy to even look up at Lola as he spoke. "Do you have any reservations?"

"No," said Lola.

Patrick squeezed her hand and looked down at her, quizzical. "You didn't make any reservations?"

"I don't need to," Lola said, trying but failing to not smile smugly, a little too proud of yourself. She looked at the waiter. "My name is Lola _Loud_ ," she said. "I assume you've heard of city councilwoman Luan Loud?"

The maître d' looked up. "Oh?"

Lola let go of Patrick's hand and walked to the waiter's side. She leaned in close, whispered into his ear, and leaned back.

"Right this way," he said, motioning for Lola and Patrick to follow.

As they sat down at a table and the maître d' gave them their menus and walked away, Patrick whistled. "How'd you swing _that?_ The hell did you tell him?"

"Don't worry about that," Lola said smugly.

Patrick ordered a modest meal, roasted partridge breast in raspberry coulis with a sorrel timbale. Lola ordered squid ravioli in a lemongrass broth with goat cheese profiteroles, as well as an arugula Caesar salad—the most expensive dishes on the menu.

When they finished, Lola stood and walked over to Patrick's side of the table, bending down and wrapping her arms around his neck. " _Time to go,_ " she whispered lovingly in his ear.

He chuckled. "You're forgetting about the bill."

The progressive thing for Lola to pay half or even all of the bill, despite Patrick's constant insistence on always paying it himself in full. They could never agree, and often simply took turns on paying. Tonight, though, that wouldn't be necessary.

"Oh, don't worry about that. It's already covered."

It was dark when the two left Five Seasons, and they walked under the street lights. It was chilly out, and Lola was wearing a sleeveless dress, so she huddled close to Patrick the whole walk for warmth… and, maybe, because it felt good to be so close to him, too.

They eventually came to his apartment building in the urban part of town. "Want me to walk you home?" he offered. Lola's house was a few blocks farther away.

She shook her head meekly. "Can't I stay with you just a little longer?" The streetlights gave her blonde hair an orange glow.

He thought, and nodded. "Yeah, sure, I don't see why not."

They went in the building and took the elevator up to Patrick's floor. They went to his apartment—it was small but cozy, and a large window in the living room gave a good view of the sparkling town below.

"Where's your Mom?" Lola asked.

"On a business trip," Patrick said, just remembering. "Won't be back until tomorrow night." He paused. "I suppose it would be rude if I didn't offer to let you stay overnight."

"Oh, I'd _love_ that, Pat." A wicked truth but a truth nonetheless, Lola thought, was that having dead parents and living only with siblings afforded much more freedom.

He offered to watch a movie with her and she agreed, so he brought her to his room so that Lola could pick a film from his shelf.

"Do you mind if I change out of this suit," he asked while she browsed.

"What? Why would I mind?"

"Well, you're in that dress and it's not fair that I get to change into something more comfortable and you don't."

"Oh, Patrick," she sighed, walking over to him while he took off his shirt. She closed her eyes and leaned on him, wrapping her arms around him. His muscles and frame were strong and appealing. His warmth and presence were intoxicating. "You need to learn to think about yourself every once in a while," she said softly.

They stayed like that for a while, and when Lola had enough, she kissed him on the cheek and got back to looking for a movie while he changed behind her. The two eventually went back to the living room, _American Psycho_ in hand.

Upon seeing the selection, Patrick chuckled. "I didn't know you liked slashers."

She shrugged. "It looks interesting." Lola was pretty squeamish and didn't often enjoy blood and gore, but tonight she needed to watch something _strong_. She was just in that kind of mood—she felt invincible. If Patrick was near, there was truly nothing that could scare Lola Loud.

The lights were killed and Lola snuggled close to him. The movie played, but she didn't pay attention to most of it. She was content with closing her eyes and scooting closer to her boyfriend. When David Bowie's _Something in the Air_ began to play and the end credits rolled, Pat got up and went to the kitchen.

Lola playfully draped herself over the back of the couch, holding on with her legs. "What are you doing?"

"Making us some hot chocolate. I'm just in that kind of mood."

Hot chocolate sounded really, really good.

The kitchen had no walls separating it from the living room, so Lola watched Patrick work. She wanted sex bad, but could tell that Patrick really wasn't in the mood. There would be other opportunities. All she wanted to do was keep Patrick happy, so she was fine with simply continuing to enjoy one another's company. When he was done, Patrick came back to the couch and gave Lola her drink. The two were content to sit in silence close to one another while they drank.

"You know," Patrick, stirring his drink and looking absently out of the apartment window.

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking."

"Oh?"

"I've been thinking a lot about the future."

"Yeah?"

"Teenagers are stupid. They think that their high school relationships are going to last forever, and they never do… but… Lola, with _you_ , all I can see for the road ahead… I…" He looked at her. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'd be perfectly happy spending the rest of my life with you." The last part came out quickly, and the confession made Patrick feel weary; he momentarily felt light-headed.

"Patrick…"

"I want to wake up to your face every morning, I want to have kids with you…"

She blushed.

"And I know it's dumb to think so far ahead, but I don't really see any other way I can be happy."

"I don't think it's dumb," she said fast, and held him tighter. "I think it's a splendid idea."

He took her in his arms and stood up. "I hope that's how things pan out, Lola. I hope."

Neither one wanted to leave the other. Lola stayed in Patrick's arms as he carried her to his room, as he turned off the bedroom light with his elbow, and as he went to bed with her. They slept peacefully, more so than ever before in either's young life.

* * *

After many, _many_ hours of hard work, after Luna had spilled a great amount of blood, sweat, and tears, and even after (admittedly) much procrastination on her part, it was complete.

Her first album.

Entitled _Cries From the Third Door on the Left_ (a reference to her bedroom), Luna had singlehandedly crafted, in her opinion, a very decent album. Finally, _finally,_ her name would at last be out there. Granted, she didn't expect to make it big right away, but someday, Luna just knew she would. She just had to—she was driven, she was ambitious, and she was _talented_.

Luna had been in a slump long before even her parents died. She spent many nights at clubs, listening to the newest bands in Royal Woods and drinking a lot while doing so. She would come home so late that it was early, drunk, and that was _not_ a good impression on her younger siblings. Hopefully, completing her first album would be her ticket back to a sober lifestyle.

She'd sort of been working on an album even before the accident that took the lives of her father and mother. Luna did it for fun at first, but after her parents died, she decided to buckle down and actually get serious about creating music.

Of course, if she was going to be completely honest with herself, Luna hadn't been working as efficiently as she could. In fact, _far_ from it—she often got up around two or three in the afternoon after coming home late from a bar, started to play around on her guitar and maybe write down some notes if she felt they were good, have dinner, and then go back out to a club, hoping to hear a band and be inspired to work harder. Most of the time, though, she just wound up drinking and repeating the process of coming home late and waking up late.

On some rare days, though, Luna made an effort to make some _real_ progress on her album. Those days, she worked tirelessly around the clock, actually getting work _done._

 _Cries From the Second Door to the Left_ only had six songs on it (she had done it alone, after all), but they were good enough, in Luna's opinion, to get her name out there. Everyone had to start somewhere, there was no shame in it. She would only get better from here on out. More songs, _better_ songs, and better sales, too.

After a couple of weeks of finding a company to publish her work, she found an obscure record label but a record label nonetheless, and submitted her work. Before long, she was mailed her first copy of the album. _Cries From the Second Door to the Left_ would only have less than a hundred physical copies printed, all of them given to Luna to sell herself (which, realistically, she realized only family and friends would likely buy) but all of her music was uploaded to all of the online streaming sites. _There_ , hopefully, they would find a wider audience and get the ball rolling.

Right before dinner on a warm night, Luna marched into the living room. Lynn was trying on her new boots in the living room (later that night, she would start her first shift as her new job as a security guard), Lori and Leni were cooking dinner, Lincoln was playing a complicated board game with Lily, Lucy was watching the game unfold, and Lana and Luan was watching reruns of Luan's old sitcom on TV (Luan _hated_ watching her show, it brought back too many bad memories—still, there was the chance that if Lana surfed the channels, she would stumble across the local news, who had been running the story of Luan's outburst at the town hall all day); Lola was out.

"Yo, Louds!" Luna cried in her raspy voice, holding up her album. "Guess who's finally a _real_ musician!"

They gathered around and looked at what she had in her hand.

"Luna," said Leni, "you wrote an _album?_ "

"Sure did!"

"Wouldn't it be better for you to have been working a _real_ job for the past few months?" snapped Lori.

"In the long run, making this thing is the best thing to do. It might make it big and then I'll be _rich!_ "

"Oh, please." Lynn shook her head and closed her eyes. "You're not going anywhere with this, Luna. It was a total waste of time."

" _My_ main concern," said Lori, "is that you didn't tell any of us about this."

"I told Luan!"

Lori turned to the city council member. "And _you_ didn't tell us about this?"

"Well, uh… no."

"And why is that, Luan?" Lori was acting smug—what was she trying to do?

"Well… I thought you guys would be mad at her. I thought you'd ask her to stop and get a real job."

"I don't think so. I think you _know_ Luna's going to be a failure in the music world, but you couldn't tell it to her face. You didn't want to tell us about the album because you knew when it finally came out, it was going to fail."

"W-What?" Luan was caught too much off guard to see the many flaws in this logic.

"Don't play dumb, Luan. I've known you your whole life."

Luna looked at her sister. "Do you think I'm going to be a musical _failure?_ "

Poor Luan was forced to take a side. "I… I don't know," she said.

Luna and Luan had been so supportive of each other… and, all of the sudden, she was giving Luna this kind of crap _?_ When asked if she was going to be a failure, Luan said she ' _didn't know?'_

It may have been rash, but from that moment on, Luna considered Luan to have backstabbed her. She never felt more defeated in her life.

That was a couple of hours ago. Presently, Luna lay defeated on her bed. _They didn't understand._ They _were holding her back._ They _were keeping her from getting big._ She had presented her first album to them expecting praise and admiration, and only got crapped on by everyone.

She looked at the clock. It was two in the morning. Lynn was working the night shift, and the rest of the household was asleep.

The thought of working a minimum wage job and _wasting_ her potential disgusted Luna. If her family wasn't holding her back, she had so much potential to make it big. Luan, the sister she was closest to, and possibly the only one that still tolerated her, was very similar in this regard—she had big ambitions. She wanted to run for the city council. She encountered much resistance from the family for this, and, admittedly, it _was_ a big risk. If she lost, even though she didn't spend much on the campaign, all of that money would have been wasted. She won, though, and soon, she would be bringing home the biggest paychecks in the family, possibly even bigger than Lori's.

Luna, too, would make it. She had the talent, she had the musical experience, and she had the personality that a big musician needed. She was _born_ to do this.

And her family was keeping her back.

Luna wasn't going to have this. It was time to cut the cord. It was time to move on. She had lots of good memories at her childhood home, but she was twenty-five, and it was time to grow up.

It was time to go.

Many of the lyrics of the very next song that Luna wrote were in reference to this very night:

 _I've felt times like I'm dead and gone_

 _There's no in, no out_

 _No right or wrong_

 _So goodbye all you cunts_

 _I'm done with these places_

 _Tired of all your hideous faces_

 _Evey one of you fools is a stupid fuck_

 _Good luck! Good luck!_

 _Good luck! GOOD LUCK!_

* * *

It was three in the morning and Luan sat alone on the living room couch. The room was dark, and the only light was coming from the television. She was watching her old sitcom, something she hadn't done for a very long time, but had started again today.

Lana had wanted to watch it earlier that day (technically, Luan thought, that was _yesterday_ , but she wasn't going to split any hairs), and it brought her back to a dark place. Oh, how happy she had been in Hollywood! How successful!

If given the chance to go back to that life… Luan didn't think she would. She wasn't sure, though. On one hand, she enjoyed the money, the luxuries, and, of course, fame. All of the fans were a most welcome change from her childhood, where, growing up with nine sisters and a brother, very rare was it for her to be given personal attention from her parents. On the other hand, though, she sort of let it all go to her head… the evidence of which was clear: she had missed her parent's funeral.

This fact still weighed down heavily on her, and in many ways Luan liked to think it was the main driving force behind her campaign for city council. It was the best way to help her siblings and keep her family's legacy alive and thriving. She was her parent's daughter, after all. After arrogantly her siblings, she felt as if the least she could do for her deceased mother and father to succeed and bring pride to the family name.

Of course, with how her first city council meeting had went… it may have been better if she didn't run at all.

To make a pun (a habit she had slowed down significantly on since she left Hollywood): so far, all she had done was royally fucked up the Royal Woods city council.

Right now, none but Leni knew that the first meeting had been a disaster for her, but soon, the rest of her family would find out one way or another. Of course, it wasn't like she was fired from the council—Luan would only be removed if her fellow council members had a town vote to impeach her or if she left—but, for her first day, she had made _quite_ the scene. A scene that, in 20/20 hindsight, was not very good for the prospect of her reflection in four years. A scene that, upon thinking about it, was pretty fucking bad (maybe she _would_ be impeached for it). A scene that, if Mayor Glen was still alive to see, Luan would likely flee the town in embarrassment.

She took a deep sigh. Luan would have to work extra hard to win reelection. It was far off, but Luan had lashed out on her very first day on the job. People wouldn't quickly forget that. She'd have to show, once again, she _cared_ about the town. She would show up to every meeting and behave herself. She would organize community events in the town. She would help out Royal Woods in any way possible. It would be a source of terribly deep shame if Luan lost the next election, or worse yet, if she was impeached for misbehavior.

She would just have to work her ass off to prevent either of those things from happening.

* * *

Lynn sprinted down the hallway. The back door to the pizzeria was her only way out, her only shot at _survival._ She didn't know _what_ the _fuck_ was in the building with her, but it was big, it was dangerous, and it was coming after her. _Fast._

She reached the exit, and frantically, she tried opening the doorknob. It was locked, even from the inside. What the _fuck?_

Lisa watched helplessly from afar.


End file.
